


flung out of space

by spacexkitten



Category: Jane the Virgin (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, F/F, Luisa interacting with kids, Modern Setting, Pining, buckle up kids this is a very slow burn, some much unresolved sexual tension, well one kid in particular
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-10-31 07:41:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10894806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacexkitten/pseuds/spacexkitten
Summary: The Carol-inspired fic no one asked for.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic has a special position in my heart, so without further ado:

Rose put her towel in her bag and pulled her hair up in a ponytail. She inhaled and exhaled deeply before opening the door and stepping outside the changing rooms. On her way out, she greeted the receptionist and was now exposed to the cold breeze of the evening. Before her body could adjust to the cold, she opened a door and entered a building. She skimmed through a piece of paper in her hands to make sure she was at the right place before putting it in her pocket, and walked to a door.

Upon entering, Rose was met with a cozy waiting room; walls painted a soft red; the lighting flattered the beautifully assorted furniture; fresh sunflowers in a vase on the front desk. Rose could swear the atmosphere was healing.

Next to the front desk was a petite woman wearing a baggy sweatshirt and tight Jeans. She seemed to be wholly absorbed by some book she was reading. When the young woman realized someone had entered the room, she raised her eyes from it.

 _And then, she saw her_.

‘Hello, how can I help you?’ the young woman, whose smile Rose found contagious, asked politely.

‘Hello, um, yes. I’m looking for whoever’s in charge of the Waltz dance sessions’ Rose said a bit nervously, pointing to a poster with her thumb.

‘Oh, you’re talking to her’ the young woman chuckled. ‘I’m the instructor. Luisa Alver’ she offered her hand to Rose as she stood up. Rose shook her hand and introduced herself.

‘Rose. Solano. Those sessions sound quite, um, tempting.’

‘Wanna join the fun?’ Luisa asked and Rose just nodded yes, a slight smile on her face. ‘Have a minute to fill this form?’

She saw the woman take the form a bit too hesitantly and supposed she was too tired to do it. Where are your manners, Luisa, she thought.

‘I can fill it out for you, if you’re too tired to do it’ Luisa said, almost desperately. The woman smiled.

‘First and Last name?’ Luisa asked.

‘Rose. Solano.’

‘Address?’

‘You better write my work address; it is most probable you’ll find me there,’ Rose chuckled.

‘Hard-working. I like that,’ Luisa said, looking at the woman.

Luisa watched how the raven-haired goddess’s lips formed the words for her address and any additional information, looking on the paper and back to the woman. The woman’s voice had something in it that made Luisa momentarily lose track of what she was writing. Rose noticed and chuckled.

‘It was a long day,’ Luisa said, trying to justify herself.

‘Gotcha,’ the woman said, looking at the paper. ‘Anything else?’

‘Birthdate, but I won’t ask you to tell me. It’s not necessary,’ Luisa said, blushing a little. She had just met the woman, why was she asking her about her birthday? She didn’t care, anyway. The woman looked ethereal and age had nothing to do about it. She took a moment to look at the woman’s face; she looked around thirty; her hands looked soft and cared-for; her face angelic.

‘May the fourth, nineteen eighty-three. I’m thirty-four,’ the woman said casually. Of course, she did. She had met the woman minutes ago and she was already driving her crazy with her always composed and collected manner.

‘All set?’ the woman asked. Luisa wondered whether the woman wanted to get rid of her presence already.

‘Yeah.’

The woman apologized for making her write stuff as simple as that, and Luisa laughed softly.

‘Teacher?’

‘Lawyer.’ Luisa shook her head comically.

‘So, I’ll see you tomorrow?’

‘Tomorrow?’ Rose asked half-confused, half-surprised.

‘First class is tomorrow at 6 p.m., think you can make it?’

‘Yeah. Sure. I’ll be here. Thank you for the…’ she nodded at the papers. ‘Good night.’

‘See you around.’ 

* * *

‘Rose, hey,’ Luisa said when she saw the woman enter the waiting room.

‘Hello,’ Rose returned with a smile.

‘This way,’ she said, placing her hand on the small of Rose’s back, guiding her to the main hall.

‘Okay, everyone. As you may know “it takes two to tango…”’ Luisa paused momentarily for laughter, then, continued ‘so grab your partners or special others and team up.’

Everyone in the room did as Luisa said, except for Rose. She was the only one who came all alone, no partner or special other of any kind. She looked desperately at Luisa, who smiled at her and nodded to her to come to her.

‘I guess you’re stuck with me, until you persuade your husband to join you,’ Luisa mumbled and winked at Rose, as the others were too busy holding hands with their partners.

‘Okay, so the important thing in waltz is being in harmony with your partner,’ she declared to the class. ‘Once upon a time, the male was the leader, but people, it’s 2016, anyone in a relationship can be in charge. Plus, queer couples are emerging in the dance field, and they’re doing wonders.’ She saluted a same-sex couple lovingly holding hands.

‘I’ll be the, uh, leader,’ she said in a low voice, almost too shyly to Rose.

‘Obviously.’

‘Okay, so the leader’s right hand goes on the follower’s waist. Hold slightly, and for god’s sake, don’t squeeze your partners. Your left hand takes your follower’s right hand in it, again don’t squeeze it, just hold it elegantly.’ As she gave the instructions, she placed her own hand on Rose’s waist and took her hand in hers. The position favored Luisa’s desire to look into the woman’s eyes, to breathe her air, to be close to her.

‘Now, for the followers, place your left hand on your partner’s shoulder.'

The rest of the class paced fast, Luisa correcting people’s posture and hand placing. The first steps were also introduced, mainly stepping back and forth. The instructor suggested they practice the positions at home; it brings the couple closer, after all, she said with a wink. Luisa thanked everyone and wished them a good evening. 

* * *

‘Hi, I’m looking for a Ms. Solano,’ Luisa said with a smile to a young woman. The cute blondie led her to a big room with lots of doors, some kind of waiting room, she supposed. Luisa thanked her, before the blond woman turned on her heels to go back to where she was. 

She spotted Rose across the room talking with some man. Luisa was left staring at Rose from a distance. Up to that day, she had only seen her in athletic attire—in which Luisa thought she looked marvelous—so, seeing her in a fitted pantsuit was for Luisa a sight for sore eyes. Her eyes scanned her from head to toe; her hair down, curly in natural waves; her body complemented by a white shirt topped by a black suit jacket and pants of the same color that hugged her back perfectly. Luisa absentmindedly bit her lower lip before Rose interrupted her.

‘Luisa, what are you doing here?’ she asked concerned, as she placed her hand on Luisa’s back and guided her to an office.

Luisa admired the office’s decoration; from the neatly placed folders to the paintings on the wall, she felt overwhelmed by a feeling of greatness. As Luisa admired the surroundings, Rose took her time to examine what Luisa was wearing; black skinny Jeans, ripped on the knees; a white patterned t-shirt; and a leather jacket. Her hair was up in a ponytail, sunglasses rested on her head.

Rose’s heart skipped a bit when she watched the young woman’s face lighten up when she faced her.

‘Rose, hi,’ she finally said. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt.’

‘Is everything okay?’ Rose asked, voice concerned.

‘Yeah, yeah. It’s just you forgot this at the dance studio and I figured you’d need it to get to the gym,’ she said, handing her a gym membership card. ‘Although you don’t need no gym.’ Luisa felt embarrassed the moment she had finished her sentence. What had she just said?

‘Oh God, yes, thank you. I needed that one,’ she said, taking the card from Luisa’s hands. ‘Can I get you something to drink?’

‘No, thanks. I’d better go, let you work,’ Luisa said, looking into her eyes.

‘No. You’re welcome to interrupt any time you like,’ Rose delivered with a soft smile. ‘I have my lunch break in five minutes, in case you want to, um, stick around. I could give you a lift to your place,’ she proposed, shrugging at the end of her sentence.

‘Sounds great,’ Luisa smiled. ‘I’ll just wait in the hallway. Take your time,’ she said before stepping out of the office, Rose following her.

Luisa followed the woman with her eyes, writing to memory any of her moves. The woman entered another office and got out moments later with a file. Luisa distractedly bit her lower lip. Then, her eyes noticed a man, the same man Rose was talking with earlier, watching her. She tried not to feel embarrassment, she had been eye-tracking the other woman the whole time, after all, and that man seemed to have noticed. What if the man was Rose’s something, she wondered, until she saw the man walk to her direction.

‘Hello, I’m Jean, Rose’s best friend,’ the man introduced himself. _Best friend_ , Luisa thought, _even worse_.

‘Luisa. Rose’s new friend,’ she offered her hand to the man. Thank god, he didn’t look hostile at all.

‘New friend?’ he asked, narrowing his eyes comically.

‘Jean, have these sent to my e-mail,’ Rose interrupted them, giving the man a couple papers.

‘Yes, boss,’ Jean said, examining the files in his hands.

‘Boss?’ Luisa asked with surprise in her voice.

‘What do you think I am doing here? I run this place,’ Rose said, a smug grin on her face. Luisa was left astounded in the hallway while Rose went to get her purse. Could this woman get any hotter? Somewhere in her thoughts, she heard the raven-haired lawyer ask her if she’s ready to go. She nodded yes. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bonjour, people! have a very nice day (or night)  
> so, here's the deal...i'll try to update as many times as i can before the end of the month, which marks the end of me living outside my parents' house *insert pained laugh*

 

‘So, where are we headed?’ Luisa asked. She wasn’t sure if they’d talked about this, but she had no idea where they were going. Truth was, she would follow the woman to the ends of the world if she asked her.

‘Just going to collect my daughter from school. If that’s fine by—’

‘You have a daughter?’ Luisa asked astonished. ‘Today’s full of revelations,’ she admitted, shaking her head lightly. Rose chuckled, raising an eyebrow. ‘By the way, I briefly met your best friend earlier.’

‘Jean?’ Rose asked, not looking at the woman.

‘Yeah.’

‘Did he share any ridiculous stuff?’

‘We barely spoke—and what do you mean by ridiculous?’

‘Anything that would make me regret speaking to humans.’ Rose momentarily poked her tongue out. Luisa was taken by surprise. How did she consider this woman the most classy and elegant person she’d met, even when she mockingly had her tongue out, Luisa truly wondered.

Being preoccupied by such thoughts, she almost tripped over a pebble, and consequently decided to change the subject. ‘So, what does your daughter look like?’

‘Beautiful, tall with the most amazing curly red hair.’ Luisa examined Rose’s face when she talked about her daughter. Radiant, almost as bright as the sun.

‘Red hair? Your husband’s side?’

‘ _Ex_ -husband,’ Rose corrected her, ‘and no…she took that from me. Along with all the other good traits…’ she said proudly, her eyes searching for her daughter.

‘The other day I told you to bring your husband to the dance classes. I’m sorry, didn’t know,’ Luisa said a bit concerned.

‘It’s fine, you didn’t know.’ Rose finally shifted her attention to Luisa. ‘It’s been two years, it’s no longer a problem.’

‘I’m still trying to imagine what you’d look like with red hair.’

‘Also been two years since I changed it. A friend told me that black would make me look more classy and powerful.’ Rose grimaced. Luisa watched the woman do a sour face, which she found adorable.

‘Well, it does,’ Luisa replied, earning an eyebrow lift from Rose.

‘Mommy!’ A red-headed girl ran towards Rose, who kneeled to welcome her daughter.

‘Baby. How are you?’ Rose said in the softest voice, and Luisa noticed the change.

‘Fine,’ the girl replied, kissing her mother on the cheek.

‘Maggie, this is Luisa. She’s a friend,’ the kneeling woman said.

‘Hi!’ Luisa said with the warmest smile.

‘Hah, hi.’ Maggie chuckled.

‘Car’s two blocks from here.’ Rose stood up and took her daughter by the hand.

* * *

 

‘Luisa, can I ask you something?’ the girl asked hesitantly.

‘Anything,’ the young woman replied excitedly.

‘Do you watch Supergirl?’ Maggie asked innocently and Luisa took a quick glance at Rose.

‘Of course I do!’ she admitted. Rose sighed.

‘Good, I love Supergirl,’ the girl chuckled.

‘God, me too, I never miss an episode,’ Luisa said. She noticed how the little girl's face lit up when she heard that. 

She felt something warm touching the inside of her hand. She looked down to see what is was, and grinned when she saw the little girl had put her hand on hers. Luisa’s hand gave it a firm grip and she smiled at the girl. Maggie smiled at her, too, revealing a missing spot in her teeth. 

‘Who’s your favorite?’

‘Um, Alex—and Lena,’ Luisa said, after pondering for a sec.

‘My favorites are Kara and Mon-el.’ the girl replied almost instantly.

‘Mon-el? Why?’ the young woman asked, eyes wide.

‘He’s nice and he loves Kara…’ Maggie replied with a smile.

‘I see. Anyway, does your mom also watch Supergirl?’ Luisa asked slyly.

‘No!’ Rose replied immediately, sounding almost offended.

‘Ok—’

‘Yes, she does,’ Maggie said innocently, not understanding her mother’s behavior. ‘She watches it with me, every time’ Rose glared down at Maggie, but the little girl was too distracted to notice.

‘So, where to, Luisa?’ Rose asked, as she stepped onto the driver’s seat. As she did so, she wondered why the woman climbed onto the backseat along with her daughter, when the seat next to her was quite vacant. It made her question whether she was she that bad a company. She felt the line between feeling neglected and feeling jealousy get blurry.

‘Just drop me off at the dance school, if it’s not out of your way,’ Luisa said gently.

‘What if I told you it is?’ Rose chuckled.

‘So, do you like any couples on Supergirl?’ Luisa went on with their previous talk when the car started.

‘I like Kara and Mon-el.’ Luisa grunted, and Maggie pocked her tongue out.

‘I like Kara and Lena,’ Luisa said, raising her eyebrow playfully at Maggie. As she turned her head, she noticed Rose watching her from the rear-view mirror. Luisa could not read her expression, must have been pure curiosity, she supposed. ‘I also like Alex and Maggie,’ Luisa whispered to Maggie, as the car stopped at a red light.

‘I like them, too,’ Maggie chuckled.

‘Any other superhero shows you watch?’

‘Some of them, yeah, my mom lets me watch them…’ Maggie admitted.

‘I watch all of them,’ Luisa said proudly.

‘Geek,’ Rose said playfully, looking at Luisa through the mirror again. Luisa gave her a warm smile. Silence fell for a minute or less. 

‘Oh no, we’re here,’ Luisa said, as she looked out the window. ‘Anyway, it was nice meeting you, Maggie,’ Luisa said, pretending to tip off an imaginary hat.

‘You should come watch Supergirl with me someday,’ Maggie proposed with a smile.

Rose got out of the car to greet Luisa. ‘Thanks for the ride, Rose. See you on Tuesday?’

‘See you on Tuesday’ the woman repeated, shaking her head slightly. 

* * *

‘How’s my daughter’s favorite nerd?’

‘Great. How’s Supergirl’s biggest secret fan?’ Luisa asked, her index fingers pointing at her, as she winked.

‘Great, too,’ Rose said, and she couldn’t help but laugh. ‘My daughter wanted me to tell you “hi”.’

‘Hi?’ Luisa laughed. ‘Tell her I also say hi, and that I loved yesterday’s episode.’ Rose shook her head, a faint smile on her lips. ‘What, you didn’t like it?’

‘It was good,’ she replied, not looking at her.

‘It’s the first time I encounter a secret geek…’

‘Shut up,’ Rose said with a shy smile. It would totally sting if any other person had uttered the words, but Rose’s casual way of saying them entirely contradicted their meaning, and Luisa’s heart almost skipped a bit. She absentmindedly bit her lower lip. 

She had caught Rose smile maybe only once before this day, but seeing her genuinely smile now, her cheeks colored by a rosy shade, stirred feelings inside her.

It almost became an immediate need; Luisa wanted to make the other woman smile again and again. She considered it a blessing and she was going to cherish every time it was revealed to her.

Rose waved at the rest of her dance mates, who were now entering the main hall. Luisa turned her head to greet them, too. She could deal with this –whatever _this_ was, after class. Right?

* * *

 

‘Luisa,’ Rose called, as the rest were leaving after class.

‘Hey, everything okay?’ Luisa asked, when she noticed the woman’s tone; it was not like her casual tone; she sounded rather tense.

‘Yeah, no,’ Rose said comically. ‘Can I talk to you for a sec?’

‘What is it? You’re scaring me.’ Luisa’s concern now showing.

‘No, it’s not—’ the woman tried to calm her down, ‘I feel this pain—it’s almost killing me.’

‘A pain that’s killing you is nothing?’ Luisa asked in the most serious of ways.

‘Yeah, wrong use of words, anyway…’ She paused. ‘My feet are killing me.’

‘How long has it been?’ Luisa asked in the same tone as previously.

‘Since last week, Thursday’s class,’ the woman said, after thinking a bit. ‘Thought maybe it’s soreness, but I’ve been going to the gym for almost two years now, it can’t be that, right?’

‘Well, technically no. Come sit. I would say it’s your pair of shoes, but damn you have an excellent pair.’

‘So? Any idea?’ ‘Should I go see a doctor? God, I hate doctors,’ Rose grunted.

‘Maybe I can help…’ Luisa said, hand on her chin, thinking. ‘I’ve had lots of kinds of injuries all these years. I could give you a foot rub if you’d like,’ Luisa proposed, shrugging slightly.

‘I’m not sure you’d like to touch my feet,’ Rose laughed, her eyes smiling. Luisa was taken by surprise. Here was something that was equally enchanting as the woman’s smile, her laughter. Luisa almost swore it was thereby her favorite sound. A sweet smile appeared on Luisa’s lips.

‘God, no. Seriously, I could help. Unless you wanna go to a doc…’

‘I mean, if you’re totally okay with it.’

‘I’m finished for the day. Lay back, I’m coming.’ Luisa went to search for a pain-relieving foot cream. ‘You never know who’s getting injured during classes, I have to be prepared for everything,’ she said, coming back to the waiting room.

‘In our case, I did.’ Luisa approached Rose who was awkwardly seated on the couch, her shoes and socks off her feet.

‘What did I tell you? Lay back, you need to be comfortable.’ Luisa motioned to her to help herself on the couch.

‘Where will you sit?’

‘Floor will be fine,’ she said casually.

‘You’re not sitting on the floor,’ Rose said awkwardly.

‘Rose!’ Luisa kind of regretted shouting at her, the second she did it, but she told herself it was to help the woman.

‘Sorry, doc.’ Luisa took one of Rose’s feet and started massaging it lightly. She, then, pressed her thumbs against some parts of it to find where exactly the woman’s foot hurt.

‘Right,’ Rose grunted, ‘there.’ The woman moaned, when Luisa hit the right spot. Wow, Luisa’s mind shouldn’t be doing this at the moment, but it did capture the other woman’s reactions every time she pressed a different area, and let her mind drift. Luisa grunted internally. _How inappropriate_ , she thought.

‘Luisa, what—?’

She hadn’t realized it, but she had taken her hands off Rose’s foot and was now rubbing her temples with these very hands to chase the thoughts away. The raven-haired woman laughed as she watched the whole scene unfold in front of her eyes.

‘Looks like you also need a massage.’

‘I do,’ Luisa laughed.

‘Wish I could help,’ the woman said with a smirk.

‘It’s fine, I have it covered. Now where was I…’ Luisa started rubbing Rose’s foot with a little more force this time, resisting watching the woman as she did so.

* * *

Luisa had been anticipating this day, the afternoon in particular, the second day of week she canonically met Rose for her dance lessons. She expected to learn if and how the foot rub she had given her two days ago had helped. She wanted to text Rose to find out, but she figured the woman would be too busy with work to bother with her.

She smiled when she saw her enter the waiting room.

‘So? How’s my great partner feeling?’ Luisa opened her arms to the other woman.

‘Good. Better than before, at least,’ the woman replied with a slight smile.

Luisa was more than glad she could help, and urged the woman to not hesitate to ask her to repeat the drill if she felt the need. The raven-haired hesitantly asked so.

‘It’s a pleasure –helping you, not touching feet. That would be creepy,’ Luisa said and laughed.

‘Gotcha.’ Rose chuckled.

* * *

Luisa felt her body shiver from the cold. She was torn: she wanted to put on her warm jacket, but she also wanted Rose to see her in the cute dress she had picked just for her.

She checked her watch. They had a rendezvous at 7, but Luisa had preferred to go to the meeting place a bit earlier. She still hadn’t processed how she had ended up here waiting for Rose. Her mind drifted back to her lunch break that same day.

Rose had texted her first, asking whether she was in class. She responded literally seconds after receiving it—she even mentally face-palmed herself for doing so, all it would do was show that she was desperate, she had thought. Rose sent another text asking whether she could talk, to which Luisa replied, ‘anytime.’

Rose had called to ask Luisa out. Wow, Luisa thought, but a second later she told herself not to get overexcited. The woman had merely invited her to dinner to thank her for her healing abilities.

Luisa remembered how she stopped breathing for a second when Rose uttered the words. _Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?_ Rose’s tone was ever so comfortable. Luisa replied yes in a heartbeat.

Was there a plan where Rose would ask her to go anywhere with her and she would refuse? She shook her head in negation.

_My treat_ , the raven-haired goddess had casually said, yet Luisa could hear her smirk over the phone. Rose repeated her utterance when Luisa tried protesting. _You just saved me a series of appointments with the doctor_ , she reminded her.

Luisa could no longer find any reason to protest, so they fixed a meeting point and time. She was told to wear something formal.

So, here she was now, replaying this sequence again and again in her head, while waiting for the raven-haired lawyer to appear.

A black Mercedes SUV stopped right in front of the restaurant’s entrance. Luisa was sure this had to be Rose. Moments passed before a dark-haired head appeared, Rose having gotten outside the car. She handed her keys to the valet, before spotting Luisa and walking towards her in the same cool pace as always.

Luisa took advantage of the moments the woman spared to get to her, by checking the woman out. Her lace, black fitted-dress exposed her toned arms and long, long legs.

'I’m awfully sorry you had to wait in the cold,’ Rose said and pressed a kiss on both of Luisa’s cheeks.

‘It’s okay. It was worth the wait.’ Luisa pretended she was just taking a look at Rose’s outfit. ‘You look stunning.’

‘You’re adorable,’ the woman said with a smile. ‘Shall we?’ she nodded at the restaurant’s entrance. Luisa nodded, but Rose didn’t move until she had linked her arm with Luisa’s.

They spent the evening talking and talking: Luisa about how she always loved dancing and that being her dream since she attended a ballet performance when she was six—which Rose found overly cute, or how she had changed three apartments already, until she found her current one; Rose about how she liked growing plants when she was younger and how her parents stopped her from opening her own flower shop when she was seventeen. 

The food was good, too. Luisa couldn’t decide on what to pick as her menu, so she went with what Rose had proposed.

Rose would be lying if she said she hadn’t felt carefree more than once that night. She needed this, someone who would be able to take her mind of the one thing that occupied it: work. At the end of the night, she had noticed she hadn’t checked her phone once for any updates on her current case. Rose felt that whenever she was around Luisa. That feeling she had buried somewhere deep and only came out when she stepped into her dance school that cold afternoon. It was like having been trapped in a room so long, and suddenly going out to a field of flowers, she thought. Healing, peace-bringing, refreshing. 


	3. Chapter 3

‘Hey, I hope I’m not late,’ Luisa said enthusiastically as she leaned in to kiss Rose on the cheek.

‘No, not at all,’ Rose replied. ‘You look really beautiful,’ she said as she noticed Luisa’s outfit, an elegant fitting green dress that left the arms exposed and her legs from the knee down out for the world to admire. At the utterance, Luisa blushed a little before she could control her thoughts.

‘Thanks, you don’t look bad yourself,’ Luisa said, now her turn to gaze upon Rose’s slender figure.

‘Hi, Luisa!’ somebody called from the background, catching the attention of the two women. _Jean_.

‘Boss,’ a young woman called, grabbing Rose’s –and Luisa’s, attention. ‘You look spectacular,’ the woman added.

‘Thanks, Rachel. You look great, too. This dress looks good on you,’ Rose responded to the compliment while she eyed the younger woman.

‘Thanks, boss.’ Luisa watched as the two women interacted with a bit too much intimacy.

‘Luisa, this is Rachel. One of the best of my crew. Rachel, Luisa, good friend. One of the best.’ Luisa smiled at the last sentence. She heard the young blonde say it was a pleasure meeting her, and she returned the compliment. While she was trying to process how Rose had introduced her moments earlier, she heard the blonde promising Rose she would see her around.

More of Rose’s colleagues –or rather employees? —came to greet their boss and in the process met Luisa, and left charmed. Rose saw some of them take Luisa by the hand and bring her to a corner, where a group of men were making noise.

Oh.

‘Jean, open this bottle of champagne, please,’ Rose said, handing him a bottle, her attention elsewhere. Jean took it in his hands and examined it. She watched as Luisa laughed at what somebody had said.

‘How did this get here?’ he asked when he recognized the tag.

‘No, this is the one I wanna open,’ Rose said with a smile.

‘Who are you trying to impress, Rose?’ Jean asked, smiling slyly.

‘Myself,’ Rose replied absentmindedly.

‘Solid answer.’

Rose approached Luisa, swaying through a bunch of people, champagne bottle and two glasses in one hand. Luisa was left starring at her as she approached. When their gazes met, they both smirked. The taller woman nodded at Luisa to come to her.

‘Give me this,’ she said firmly. Once, she had Luisa’s glass, she gave her two untouched ones and poured some champagne in them.

‘Shall I even dare to ask how much this champagne costs?’ Luisa asked as she examined Rose.

‘More than what some of these people make in a month,’ Rose said, a smug grin on her face.

‘It’s good,’ Luisa said after taking a sip.

‘Glad you liked it. I brought it for you.’

‘Mom, can I have some of the good stuff? I’m fed up with alcohol for commoners,’ Jean interrupted jokingly.

‘Good stuff’s reserved for me and Luisa,’ Rose said, flashing her tongue out to Jean.

‘Please,’ he fake-pouted.

‘No—Yes?’ Luisa stammered comically. Jean nodded. ‘Give the poor man some,’ Luisa said laughing, turning her attention to Rose. Jean fixed his gaze on Luisa, taking in each reaction of the young woman to Rose’s moves and responds. He only teared his eyes away when Rose finished filling his glass and told him to go play with the other kids.

‘Thanks, mom,’ Jean said, raising an eyebrow before disappearing.

Rose went to find him later, when Luisa was once again circled by people who came to meet a “fresh, new face, they didn’t see every day at work.”

‘Okay, why does everyone in this party fall for Luisa?’ Rose asked, somehow annoyed.

‘She’s young, she’s single, she’s gorgeous.’

‘Yeah, she is,’ Rose whispered.

‘What?’ Jean asked, clearly having heard what the woman had said.

‘What?’ Rose echoed, feigning ignorance. Just about this moment, Luisa, being on the other side of the rooftop, turned her head to look at Rose. Jean watched the whole thing as the two women locked eyes.

‘And she’s crazy for you,’ Jean said to himself; he intended to tell Rose, but someone was fast approaching them, as he started saying it.

‘Jean, Boss,’ someone greeted before going on to boast about his successes over the past three months.

 

‘I can’t believe your wasting away your shot,’ Jean said, catching Rose’s attention who had been checking out Luisa for the past five minutes.

‘What are you talking about?’ Rose asked, slowly dragging her eyes away from the brunette.

‘Luisa. It’s quite obvious she’s into you. I mean, she had been flirting with you the whole evening, not to mention since I met her.’

‘Flirting?’ Rose repeated confused, as if the word was new to her.

It was natural it got her perplexed; Rose had reduced flirting to mere human interaction since she broke up with her husband. She had been too committed to her career and her daughter to devote any time to anyone, not to mention to flirt with them.

But, yeah, now that Jean had mentioned it, she could remember distinct moments when she and Luisa had gotten their _flirting_ game to another level. She smiled to herself; yeah, she had felt something bizarre about the woman, something she was unable to define because she had buried that very feeling somewhere deep after her breakup. Or even earlier, if she was being honest with herself.

So, was that it? She liked Luisa? That was why she was feeling something weird just by watching Luisa _flirt_ with someone else.

She smiled to herself again and then turned back to look at Luisa. ‘You think so?’

‘Darling, it’s written in black bold letters on her face,’ Jean said, trying to persuade her. ‘She looks at you as if you’re some kind of god.’

‘I _am_ some kind of god,’ Rose replied, in a moment of self-liking. ‘So, what now?’ Rose asked perplexed.

‘Go get the girl, dear,’ the man suggested, with his arms folded before his chest.

Luisa, on the other side of the rooftop, was having another kind of revelation; almost each one of Rose’s colleagues came to pay their respects to the woman with the exotic beauty.

‘Hi, you’re Luisa, right? Everyone at the party’s talking about you,’ a woman extended her hand to Luisa.

Luisa laughed. ‘For real?’

The woman nodded. ‘I’m Barbara. I just wanted to tell you, there’s a friend over there who has been quite reluctant to talk to you. Person’s quite shy. So, um, yeah, I was asked to give you a phone number.’

Luisa chuckled. ‘Who’s your friend?’ _Now was not a good time to hope it was Rose_ , she thought. She knew there would be no chance for such a thing to happen.

‘The guy over there in the dark green pull.’ Luisa turned around to see a handsome, young man in glasses looking at her. He was what people would describe pretty.

‘Well, please don’t tell your friend, but he’s not my type. I mean, it’s not him, it’s just I’m not into…’ Luisa trailed off as her stare coincided that of Rose.

‘Men?’ the other woman asked, and Luisa just nodded not quite waiting to process the question. ‘Well, in that case,’ Barbara continued now that she had her attention, ‘here’s _my_ number,’ the woman offered with a smile. Luisa took it from her hands with a smirk.

‘Now, that’s the kind of offer I like,’ she joked.

She had to accept it, she thought, Rose was not gay; she would never have a chance with her, and even though it pained her, she had to quickly move on before it hurt her even more.

‘I’m leaving in a few minutes if you’re interested…’ She winked.

‘Horny and decisive. I like that,’ she laughed, and so did the other woman.

 _That’s when Rose approached the two women._ ‘Barbara.’

‘Boss.’ Luisa wished Rose hadn’t heard anything from her and Barbara’s conversation.

‘Are you two having a good time?’ Rose asked with a slight smile.

‘Excellent,’ Barbara replied.

‘Mind if I borrow her for a second?’ Rose asked.

‘Yeah, sure, I was about to leave, anyway.’

‘Oh, okay,’ Rose sighed, trying to hide her excitement; this was easier than she had imagined.

‘Great party as always, Rose. It was the best, by far. Goodnight, Rose. Luisa.’ The woman winked at her in the most discreet way she could in front of her boss and made her way out, hips swaying and all.

Luisa was following her with her eyes and Rose was following Luisa’s gaze. She couldn’t understand what was going on. Or rather, preferred not to process it.

‘So, I wanted to ask if you have any further plans for tonight. We could go somewhere,’ Rose proposed with a soft smile.

What was that, an invitation from Rose? Was she hearing right? What should she do? Dump a potential one-night-stand with a stranger in order to feed her feelings for Rose, the same feelings she would have to fight because she thought they were one-sided. Luisa pondered for a second.

Yes, she would love to spend some more time with Rose, yes, she would love to just sit with Rose, anywhere. But at the moment, she was feeling the urge to go with a stranger to potentially forget the fact that she was falling for a straight woman.  

‘Sorry, I will also have to go. Already made plans.’

‘O-kay. Maybe some other time then?’ Rose said, and Luisa hoped the change in her voice was disappointment.

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Luisa reassured with a smile, kinda already regretting her choice not to go out with her.

‘Just text me when you’re free and we can, like, hang out.’

‘Thanks for the invite, Rose. It was a great evening. You’ve got some great staff here.’

Rose watched Luisa leave and face-palmed herself in her mind. 

* * *

Rose rushed to the woman’s office first thing after she had left her purse in her own office. Jean found her in the hallway, step firm and confident.

‘Don’t do it,’ he asked firmly. He knew alright what she was up to, and was in no mood to spend his morning comforting her. She simply asked him to get out of her way. Her death stare alone was enough to intimidate him enough that he stepped aside.

The blond woman lifted her head from some papers and wished Rose a good morning. Rose herself put on a smile and asked her how she was.

‘So, had fun with Luisa?’ Rose asked as she loomed over Barbara’s office.

Barbara, at first, pretended she didn’t know what she was talking about, but after Rose’s friendly urges, she came to ask, ‘Luisa told you?’

‘I hope you don’t mind.’ Rose lied. She hadn’t discussed that with Luisa, and was probably not going to.

‘Woman’s incredible,’ Barbara whispered enthusiastically. Rose struggled hard to keep her fake smile on. ‘Yeah. To think, at first, I thought that she was into you…’ Barbara laughed.

‘What, no—’ Rose faked a laugh, she had perfected that over the years. Life in the suburbs requires really good acting. She added, ‘so, when are you meeting again?’

‘No idea. Hope soon enough,’ the woman replied, raising an eyebrow. Rose chuckled, and, then, excused herself saying she had lots of work, which she indeed had. But, first, she had to run to her office to process what had happened.

‘ _What are you doing today?_ ’ The text came silently, but made Rose’s heart skip a bit when she unlocked her phone to see the message notification. ‘I don’t get it.’ Rose threw her hands in the air as Jean readjusted himself in his seat.

‘What is it that you don’t get, baby?’

‘Why did Luisa leave with Barbara instead of me?’

‘Maybe she thought you didn’t like her back,’ Jean suggested, shrugging. ‘I mean you did open a fricking seven-thousand-dollar bottle of champagne for her. I just hope you didn’t intimidate her.’

Rose didn’t say anything, she just looked at him with a pout.

‘I can’t believe that girl hurt your pride.’

Jean finally leaned over his seat and took the phone out of Rose’s hands. He read the message again before starting typing a reply. When Rose finally looked at him it was too late.

‘What are you typing over there?’

‘Just replied to Luisa,’ he said, a smug grin plastered on his face.

‘No, you didn’t.’ Rose’s eyes went comically wide. ‘Give it back,’ she demanded, clearly angered.

‘Chill, I can’t have you whine one more time about how Barbara and Luisa had amazing sex because you were being a coward,’ he said before handing her back the phone.

Rose chuckled, hands folded over her chest, gaze fixed somewhere Jean couldn’t identify.

‘I know this woman’s important to you. So, please, instead of being mad at me, thank me for helping you in this distress. FYI, Barbara doesn’t stand a chance next to you.’

‘I’m sorry I snapped. I guess, you’re right.’ She felt a bolt of courage rise back in her before she unlocked her phone. ‘I need to see you. I miss you very much?’ Rose read the message Jean had sent Luisa.

‘Well, that’s the best way I could describe your situation,’ he said and Rose shook her head biting her lower lip. And then her phone buzzed.

‘Everything okay?’ Rose read the message Luisa had just sent her. ‘No, nothing’s okay.’ Rose joked even though she still felt sad deep inside because of her one-night stand with her employee. ‘Do something, please,’ she basically begged, handing Jean her phone. Jean refused, folding his hands before his chest.

‘Shut up and type.’ Rose gave him a kiss on the cheek. He typed something very quick and gave the phone back to Rose after hitting send.

‘Everything’s okay. I just missed you and your warm smile,’ she read what he had just sent. ‘It’s time you left. One more text and you’ll tell her—’ Rose didn’t finish her sentence. She had just now realized that although she was joking with her friend, her voice had gotten too loud for anyone outside her office to hear. Jean raised an eyebrow.

‘Okay. I’m leaving. Can I keep the phone?’ he joked, and Rose mockingly questioned how she had trusted this person to be her best friend.

‘Don’t come back unless I call you. And stay away from my phone,’ Rose said with a smile while she pushed Jean out of her office.

Rose closed her office’s door and went to look out the window. She sighed. She wondered if it would’ve been better if she had let her feelings for Luisa sleep inside of her for a little longer. She shook her head. _Get your shit together, Rose_ , she told herself. She got her phone out of her pocket, a reply from Luisa awaiting. _You’re very sweet. Can I see you after work?_ Rose tried to think of a nice reply. No, she stopped herself; keep it simple. ‘Sure. See you at 6:30. Looking forward to it.’ Ah, yes. 

* * *

One would wonder what Luisa was doing here; kids everywhere, balloons, and a long, oval table of suburban moms. She swore she felt like an outsider here and the whole thing would be more awkward if it wasn’t for Oliver, Jean's husband.

‘Jean isn’t around?’ she asked, already knowing the answer.

‘Nah, he hates this kind of gatherings,’ he said.

‘I don’t see the reason why he shouldn’t.’ Luisa took a look around. She and Oliver had momentarily isolated themselves to escape the claws of the suburban clique. The fake concern, the interrogation-like questions they made, and their whole secret back-stabbing the second someone left the room was at the moment too much for Luisa.

She wondered now and again how Rose could be a suburban mom without falling deep in the abyss of suburbia. She really was exceptional.

Rose, on the other hand, had little chances to be with the brunette that afternoon. Any kind of interaction with her was much needed. Luisa was the desired fresh air she needed in this event full of poisonous gas.

She discreetly watched her every now and then to make sure she was doing okay. There were moments, especially those when other women treated her like a suspect in an interrogation room, she wished Luisa didn’t hate her for inviting her to her daughter’s birthday party.

Luisa had been distant this week, well, compared to previous weeks. This week’s dance classes were not filled with choreographies that called for intimacy between dancing partners, and Luisa had refrained from having one hand over Rose’s waist while she was correcting people’s postures. Rose felt blue due to the lack of flirting from Luisa’s side.

At last, she found Luisa in the kitchen, trying to cut the cake.

‘Go hang with the suburban moms, I’ll do it,’ Luisa said softly. She hadn’t decided if she was doing this because she felt like helping the woman or just to avoid what was happening in the garden.

‘No, let me do it,’ Rose asked as she went to look over Luisa’s shoulder. ‘Let me help,’ Rose whispered in her ear as she put her hand on Luisa’s, her body sticking on Luisa’s, her head resting on the younger woman’s shoulder. Her free hand came to trap Luisa’s free hand under hers on the counter.

‘Guide me,’ Luisa breathed.

‘Rose?!’ a woman called her from behind while she and Luisa were cutting the cake. Her voice sounded offended. Rose instantly dropped Luisa’s hands and turned around.

‘Sharon,’ Rose said awkwardly.

‘Where do you keep Band-Aids? Bobby fell down and hurt his knee,’ she said in the same tone. Rose noticed her eyes were a tad too open.

‘Top shelf in the bathroom. Wait, I’ll get them for you,’ she said, and led the way.

 

When cake was served to everyone, Luisa found Oliver waiting for her at the kitchen’s door.

‘Luisa, sweetheart,’ he called quietly.

‘Ollie?’

‘Please, play along.’ Luisa started to ask him what was wrong, but she didn’t get the chance. He took her hand and led her to the garden. They didn’t speak for a while. And, then, Oliver brought her a bit too close to the suburban moms.

‘Honey, I was thinking of heading home, wanna come?’ Oliver said tenderly. Luisa mouthed to him she didn’t know how to respond.

‘Think I’ll hang around a bit longer,’ she decided to say. ‘I’ll call you when I head out.’

‘Okay, love you,’ he replied.

‘Love you, too, babe,’ Luisa replied seductively. Rose had just come from inside the house and was caught off guard. What was happening? She felt jealousy prickle her like she had felt that night she watched Barbara flirt with Luisa.

‘Ladies, I got to go—’ he said, before he was cut by hundreds of questions as to his departing. He apologized saying he had to go to work very early.

‘Babe, your coat…’ Luisa said, motioning to the house.

Ollie followed her happily.

‘What was this all about?’ she asked when she made sure there was no one around.

‘This woman, Sharon, told me she saw you and Rose being really close in the kitchen. She thought you two were…you know. So, I told her you’re my wife because, god, Luisa, the worst thing about suburban people is these fake rumors they spread. I’m sorry if I—’ 

‘No, Ollie, what you did was great,’ she said very softly. ‘I admire a person who does anything for his best friend. Spreading rumors like that wouldn’t be very good for Rose.’ Oliver nodded. ‘Can I trust my husband with something, though?’ she asked mockingly.

‘Sure, tell me.’

‘There was some truth in what Sharon said. I’m _crazy_ for Rose,’ Luisa said as quietly as she could.

‘Whoa.’

‘Yeah, and I don’t know how to proceed,’ she added, her voice sad.

‘I don’t know what Jean would advise if he was here. He surely knows more on the situation than I do.’

‘Here’s the hot couple everyone’s talking about,’ Rose said, trying to feign excitement.

‘Rose?’

‘Darling, I’m leaving,’ he said to Rose, and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek.

‘I’ll see you out, honey,’ Luisa said, taking his hand.

‘Luisa, can I talk to you for a sec?’ Rose asked, letting her despair show in her voice.

‘Another time, someone’s calling you.’ Rose was momentarily left in the house, feeling low she was being rejected by the brunette, but followed them out to the garden, where a suburban mom had called her.

Ollie waved one last time at the suburban moms before Luisa leaned in for an ardent kiss. Oliver wasn’t planning on letting Luisa any time soon, but he remembered they were at a kids’ party; well, the kids were too busy to bother with adults; the adults, on the other hand, were too busy picking their jaws off the ground. The moms did love a food show, Luisa thought.

Rose was there watching. She felt as if the air was locked outside her lungs and as if she suddenly couldn’t breathe.

Luisa broke away from the kiss, but still had her arms around Ollie’s neck.

Rose was past jealous; she wanted to send Oliver away and replace him in Luisa’s arms. Damn, she would, if it weren’t for all the prying eyes around.

Time passed and Rose had less and less opportunities to take a quick look at the woman, and no chances to talk with her. She tried telling herself it was nothing. Oliver was still married to Jean, after all.

And, then, the suburban moms were gone and Rose, Maggie, and Luisa retreated to the house. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah, yes, i'm a sucker for jealous!Rose  
> coming up next: a kin of Luisa's visits


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey! just wanted to get another chapter out there before returning home since living with family's not the best thing for publishing fanfics :p

Time passed and Rose had less and less opportunities to take a quick look at the woman, and no chances to talk with her. She tried telling herself it was nothing. Oliver was still married to Jean, after all.

And, then, the suburban moms were gone and Rose, Maggie, and Luisa retreated to the house.

Maggie asked her if she had enjoyed the party.

‘Yeah. You haven’t opened my gift yet, though.’ 

‘You got me a gift?’ she asked excitedly.

‘Of course, I did,’ Luisa replied with a smile.

‘Sweet!’

‘Luisa, you needn’t—’ Rose started, but was shushed by Luisa. Rose wouldn’t have complied if it were any other person telling her not to speak. But, Luisa had a very sweet way of doing it, almost as if trying to put a baby to sleep.

‘Here,’ she came back under a minute with a package with fancy wrapping.

Maggie opened it to reveal a brand-new chess set. Her eyes went wide. ‘Wow!’

‘I love it, thanks, Luisa,’ she said when the brunette asked her if she liked it. ‘This is the best thing I got today.’

‘Now, I’m jealous,’ Rose said loudly. She didn’t precise why she felt jealous, though. Luisa smiled.

‘Don’t be. I got something here for you, too.’ Luisa took a small rectangular wrapped box from behind her back.

‘It’s not even my birthday,’ Rose chuckled and Luisa handed her the box. Rose carefully got the wrap away to see a book.

‘Oh, it’s—’ her eyes were once again sparkling.

‘The other day when you stopped by the studio, I was reading it, yeah,’ Luisa explained with a grin. Rose returned the smile.

‘Luisa is the best for picking gifts,’ Maggie said innocently.

‘Yeah. Yeah, she is,’ Rose confirmed, kissing her daughter on the forehead. ‘And thank you.’ Rose scooted closer to kiss her tenderly on the cheek.

‘Anything for you two.’ Luisa hugged Rose as they were still sitting on the floor.

Minutes later, Luisa announced it was time for her to go. Rose tried to persuade her to stay a bit more, but Luisa insisted it had been a long day for all three of them. She wished happy birthday to the girl once more and left.

When Maggie was in bed, Rose took her phone out and sent out two texts.

_So, you and Luisa?_

Before Rose could lay down on her bed, Oliver called. She was in no mood to talk at the moment, but she did pick up the call. She tried hard to sound cheerful, ‘hey.’

‘Rose, hey. Saw your text.’

Rose didn’t reply, she didn’t know what to reply. She just said suggestively, ‘so?’

‘So, hottest couple ever?’ he chuckled. Rose wanted to chuckle, too.

Yeah, she couldn’t hold it back anymore. ‘God, I know you’re married and all, but hell, I got jealous.’

‘You did? Why?’ he asked innocently. He didn’t know, Rose thought, makes sense.

‘Though Jean would have told you,’ she said quietly. She pondered for a moment, when Oliver told her he had no idea what she was talking about. ‘That I, uh,’ she took a deep breath, ‘I’m really into Luisa.’ She heard him say he was taken by surprise. ‘Yeah.’

‘Didn’t know you still had it in you, Ro,’ he said teasingly. She chuckled. ‘Anyway, I’m not going to torture you any longer. This woman, Sharon, told me she found you and Luisa, and I quote, in an intimate position, and wondered whether you two… had to act immediately, so the rumor wouldn’t spread to the rest of suburbia. Sorry I didn’t tell you right away.’ Rose felt a weight be lifted off her chest.

‘God, thanks, it obviously worked. Everyone was obsessed with the hottest couple in the neighborhood,’ she said with a slight smile. She could feel her mood get better already. ‘Thanks, I owe you one, babe.’

‘Anytime, Ro. Send thanks to Luisa, too,’ he suggested. Rose promised she would. Oliver, then, said he would hung up, so she could do so, before it would get too late.

Rose lay there for a few moments on her bed, phone on her chest, a stupid smile on her face. It was truly remarkable what the two had done for her.

_So, you and Oliver…?_ She had sent the text the same time she had texted Oliver, but Luisa had just now replied.

_Luisa: ‘We’re secretly in love with each other. I’m planning to steal him for Jean.’_

_Rose: ‘He told me what it was all about. Thanks for putting up with suburban moms, Luisa.’_

_Luisa: ‘Had fun saving the world with Ollie.’_

_Rose: ‘You have a heart of gold.’_

_Luisa: ‘Your married babysitter, always at your services.’_ Rose chuckled, how sweet, she told herself.

_Rose: ‘You didn’t… Not going to bed, yet?’_

_Luisa: ‘Nah. Think I’ll read something before I sleep. What about you?’_

_Rose: ‘I’m exhausted… But I can stay a bit longer if you wanna talk.’_

_Luisa: ‘It’s fine. Running the empire requires good sleeps.’_ Yeap, she could definitely go to sleep, her body was much more relaxed now.

_Rose: ‘Good advice. Good night, Luisa.’_ She massaged her temples a bit, as she rested her head on a pillow. For a second, she wished Luisa would come up a topic, so they could discuss anything. But, Luisa just texted her goodnight, and told her to sleep tight.

* * *

‘So? Can you do the _Swan Lake_ already?’ Luisa asked Maggie as she took a bite of her food.

She had only seen Maggie dance for, like, five minutes before class was over. She and Rose had gone to pick the girl up from her ballet lessons, and Luisa certainly could have watched her for longer, but Rose being beside her and talking about her day had her forget anything else.

‘Yes, I can,’ the girl said proudly.

‘Wow, man. That’s—tough.’

‘I know,’ the girl chuckled.

‘It used to be my favorite when I did ballet.’

‘You did ballet?’ Maggie asked excitedly.

‘When I was your age, yes,’ Luisa said with a smile.

‘Is there anything you can’t do?’ Rose asked with a smug smile.

‘I guess not,’ Luisa replied playing her eyebrows. Rose chuckled at the young woman’s reaction. It was true, though, Rose thought, there was nothing Luisa couldn’t do; the woman was perfect just the way she was.

A moment of silence passed, as the women ate their food, before Luisa asked, ‘would you consider any other type of dance in the future?’

‘I don’t know, yet. Maybe hip-hop…’ Maggie said, as she looked at her food.

‘Hip-hop?’ Rose asked surprised.

‘I love hip-hop dance,’ Maggie said, her gaze unfocused. Then, she looked at Luisa, ‘you know how to…?’

‘Of course, I do.’

‘Yeah, right,’ Rose doubted her, and chuckled softly.

‘Why’re you laughing? You should see me dance to _Formation._ ’

Suddenly, Rose’s mocking tone was dropped. ‘Beyoncé’s Formation?’ Rose asked seriously. ‘There’s a special place in my heart for Lemonade.’

‘Ah, I _love_ Lemonade,’ Luisa said enthusiastically. Rose was wrong; the woman could get even more perfect. Luisa gazed at her; Rose could make out challenge in her eyes.

‘I like Katy Perry more,’ the girl said with a smile.

‘I like Katy Perry, too,’ Luisa said, patting Maggie on the back.

Rose took a look around the diner as Maggie and Luisa were having lite chat. She waited for the girls to finish their conversation so that she could say what she had been thinking over and over the past few minutes. Eventually, they stopped talking, as Luisa suggested they finished their food before it got cold.

‘Dinner tomorrow? Maggie and I are cooking,’ Rose proposed and Maggie got over-excited at the idea.

‘Ah, I’d love to. But, my mom’s coming and—’

‘She’s invited too,’ Rose said not wasting a single second.

‘Your mom? Cool,’ Maggie said and her eyes went wide. Luisa raised her eyebrows playfully at her.

‘Is that a yes?’ Rose laughed as she watched the weird interaction between her daughter and Luisa.

‘Yes, I guess,’ Luisa said throwing her hands in the air, a huge smile appearing. Maggie scooted in closer and hugged Luisa.

‘Thanks, Luisa. I am very happy.’

‘What, no hug for me?’ Rose complained with a laugh when she felt neglected by the two women she loved the most.

Luisa and Maggie now broke away from the hug and Luisa scooted closer toward Rose and placed her arms around Rose who adjusted herself to embrace her fully.

The hug lasted less than what either of the women wanted but when it was time to break away from it, Luisa didn’t slide back to her previous seat, she remained seated right next to Rose, their hips brushing against each other’s.

‘That’s unfair,’ Maggie said as she stuffed her mouth with chips. ‘I also want to sit with Luisa,’ she complained.

‘She’s not going anywhere,’ Rose laughed as she snaked her hand around Luisa’s waist, the brunette resting her head on the raven-haired goddess’ shoulder. ‘Finish your food, baby, we’re leaving soon.’

‘Fine. It’s better this way. You look good together,’ Maggie said as she drank some of her soda.

‘So, about tomorrow, do you want me to bring anything?’ Luisa asked not moving her head from where it rest.

‘No. Maggie and I will take care of everything,’ she replied looking at her daughter and winking at her.

‘Mommy, I’m tired,’ Maggie said as a faint yawn escaped her lips.

‘Let’s go then,’ she proposed as she got up. They all got their jackets on and Luisa approached Maggie.

‘You’re too tired, come here,’ she said as she opened her arms to her. Maggie gladly jumped into her arms and Luisa lifted her off the ground. Rose laughed as she watched them.

She only left Maggie out of her arms when Rose pulled over at her place.

* * *

‘Is she your girlfriend?’

‘What? No. Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I can’t have girl friends,’ Luisa told her mother and pouted. ‘Plus, she has a daughter…’

‘So, what does that mean?’ she asked raising an eyebrow. ‘Anyway, tell me more about the little girl. You’ve told me enough about this Rose woman.’

Luisa and her mother were now catching up on their past few weeks, when the doorbell rang.

‘Miss Alver?’ a young man in a cap asked.

‘Yeah?’ she said not sure of what was going on.

‘There’s a bouquet for you. Please sign here,’ he instructed, and Luisa did as she was told. The man gave her a bouquet of flowers. ‘Have a good day.’

Luisa’s mother was very much surprised when her daughter turned around, the flowers in her hands. ‘Who’s the lucky fan?’

Luisa replied she had no idea what this was all about.

‘Well, open the damn card, I wanna know,’ Jasmine urged.

Luisa tried opening it. Her fingers fumbled a bit. She blamed it on her being impatient. She read the card out loud for her mother to listen. ‘My daughter and I would love to have you and your mother over for dinner tonight. See you at 6:30p.m. Rose.’

A bright smile appeared on her face, one that she had recently reserved only for the raven-haired woman. It was amazing how she had this effect on her, even when she wasn’t in the room.

‘Unbelievable. This Rose woman seems seriously elegant,’ Jasmine remarked, still in kind of a shock. Luisa didn’t say anything, she just remained staring into something, the small card touching her chin. ‘You won’t say anything?’ Luisa shook her head slightly. ‘I knew you two were dating,’ Jasmine said teasingly.

‘We’re not, ma. The woman’s just the sweetest person and I admire her.’

‘Can’t wait to meet her,’ Jasmine said, not looking at Luisa.

‘I’m sure, you’ll love her,’ Luisa muttered, before disappearing to another room to find a vase for the flowers. Luisa felt comfortable admitting to herself that she left to avoid any awkward questions by her mother.

 

Later that afternoon, Luisa was feeling very proud when she was introducing the woman she had a massive crush on and her precious daughter to her mother; obviously, she refrained from introducing them to Jasmine as such. She had wondered earlier that day whether doing so would be awkward, but was glad to know now that there would be no such case. She had no doubt her mother could feel the loving atmosphere.

Luisa handed Rose a bottle of wine and kneeled to hug Maggie. Jasmine gave the woman a pot of orchids her daughter had picked hours ago.

Rose invited them to the table, and Maggie helped her mother carry some plates.

Rose had done a fine job decorating the table, with the dishes with small rose patterns on them, the napkins folded neatly, and the vase of flowers, all being admired by the guests.

The rest of the dinner flew by; Jasmine bonded with Maggie over everything; Rose throwing discreet looks at Luisa, and smiling when their gazes coincided; Jasmine’s every-now-and-then ‘Luisa told me about this,’ accompanied by an approving look by Rose; some eating, too.

Rose had must have spent hours preparing this dinner, Luisa thought, so the least she could do was compliment her on her cooking skills. The perfectly-cooked turkey, the skillfully prepared salads, and the sauces Maggie had made were truly a blessing to her stomach.

After eating, Maggie took Luisa by the hand and brought her to the coffee table on the one side of the living room.

‘Wanna draw something for your mom, Luisa?’ Maggie asked innocently. Luisa laughed softly. She said yes, and they got started, as the older women retired to a sofa on the other side of the room.

‘Thank you for the flowers,’ Jasmine said quietly.

‘It’s no big deal.’ Rose couldn’t control it, but she was blushing at the moment. Why was she feeling shy, all of a sudden?

‘Yeah, it was. My daughter loved them.’ Rose was more than glad to hear that. She even broke eye-contact with Jasmine to imagine what Luisa would look like when she received the flowers. Ah, yes, that dearest smile that lit up the entirety of planet Earth. How she loved that.

Rose hadn’t realized she had zoomed out for a moment, but Jasmine’s voice brought her back to reality.

‘Send roses next time, though. She _loves_ roses.’

‘Noted.’

A few minutes passed, neither of them saying anything.

‘You, Ms. Solano, have an adorable daughter.’

‘Thank you, it means a lot. And you Ms. Alver have an equally adorable daughter,’ Rose said with a wide smile, which Jasmine returned. The two had been watching from the other side of the room Maggie and Luisa draw.

‘Can I ask you something, Ms. Solano?’ Jasmine trusted that the distance from the girls would be enough to ask her question unobstructed.

‘Yeah, sure. And please call me Rose—’

‘Do you like my daughter?’ Jasmine asked, her voice low so that only Rose could now hear her.

‘Of course, I like Luisa. She’s adorable and strong and a complete sweetheart…’ Rose trailed off as she watched Luisa play with her daughter.

‘I see, yeah. But do you _like_ her?’ Rose turned her head back to Jasmine. She had clearly misinterpreted the question the first time it was asked. ‘I mean, I asked my daughter if you two are dating and she refused.’

‘No, we’re not.’ Rose sighed. ‘Even though, I would very much like it if we did—’ Wait, Rose, what are you doing, a voice inside her head told her.

Jasmine noticed on Rose’s face that she had just realized what she had just said.

‘Don’t worry, I won’t tell her,’ the older woman said frankly.

Rose still couldn’t believe she had just blurted that out to the mother of the woman on whom she had a developing crush. In her mind, she would have slapped herself, however, something about this woman made her trust her. She couldn’t decide on what that was, but at the moment, she was calm and that’s all that mattered to her.

‘Hey, ma, come see what Maggie did for you,’ Luisa half-shouted from the other corner of the room.

‘It’s your portrait,’ the girl said innocently, as she presented the drawing to Jasmine.

‘It’s beautiful, love.’ Jasmine kissed her on the forehead. 

Luisa approached Rose to take her mother’s place next to her on the couch. The raven-haired woman got off the couch.

‘Want some wine?’ Rose asked nodding to the dark kitchen.

‘Sure.’ _No_ , she didn’t. But, it didn’t matter. What did matter was Rose’s smirk as she delivered the question. Luisa would follow her anywhere.

‘So, what were you and my mom discussing?’ Luisa asked playfully as she stepped right in front of Rose blocking her way, once they were in the kitchen.

‘She just told me that Maggie’s adorable.’ Rose saw that Luisa wasn’t satisfied with the reply and went on. ‘And I told her that I find you are adorable.’

Luisa chuckled. ‘You do?’ she asked clearly, blushing everywhere. Rose nodded and reached for the bottle on the table.

When she got a firm grip of it –-never taking her eyes off Luisa–-she felt a hand lock around her wrist, and pulling her closer.

Rose gasped. What was happening? She was never at loss for words but now was an exception. She was drowning inside Luisa’s eyes and Luisa seemed to be doing the same. They stayed like this, looking in each other’s eyes, as the whole world around them faded.

When they were finally brought into reality.

‘Luisaaaa.’ They both could recognize Jasmine’s voice. Luisa let Rose’s hand and they both walked to the living room.

‘Everything okay, ma?’ Luisa asked, even though, judging by her mother’s casual tone, nothing was wrong.

‘It’s about time we left. Maggie’s tired.’

Luisa nodded in agreement, but was hesitant to say goodnight to the raven-haired that was smiling at her. She walked back to her.

‘Good night, love,’ Jasmine said to Maggie.

‘Good night, Jasmine.’

‘I loved the dinner,’ she told the little girl as she raised her hand up in a high-five.

Somewhere across the room, Luisa hugged Rose tightly. ‘Thanks for the dinner and, like, everything.’

‘Do I have to stand in the line to thank the hostess, Luisa?’ Jasmine joked and the women broke away from the embrace. ‘Thanks for the dinner, Rose, it was delicious,’ she said as she offered a hand, but Rose opened her arms to embrace Jasmine.

‘We should do it again.’

‘Maybe my daughter can have us at her apartment someday.’

The women exchanged hugs and goodnight kisses before Luisa and her mom left.

* * *

‘Miss Alver?’ a young man read a paper. ‘Hey, I was here yesterday,’ he said when he raised his eyes off it.

‘With my daughter’s charm, you might come back tomorrow, too,’ Jasmine said teasingly.

‘Ma, shut up,’ Luisa said shyly, playfully punching her arm. ‘Yeah, Miss Alver,’ Luisa said impatiently to the man.

‘Please sign here for the record.’ Luisa did the drill once again. ‘Here you go,’ he said, presenting a rich bouquet of roses. Luisa’s eyes went wide, the young man too occupied to notice. ‘Good day.’

‘Wait, young man. Here, treat yourself with a hot cocoa,’ Jasmine said, tipping him. He thanked her, before disappearing down the stairs.

‘Ma, stop flirting with everybody,’ Luisa said seriously, while sniffing the roses.

‘It’s called being nice, Luisa,’ she mocked. ‘Anyway, right now, I want to see your flowers.’

‘God, this woman,’ Luisa said and exhaled deeply. ‘Roses, my favorite.’

‘Check the card,’ Jasmine urged impatiently. This time, Luisa didn’t read it out loud.

_Thank you for the lovely dinner._

_Your presence in our lives is very much cherished._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> coming up next: a very sweet chapter AKA Luisa is a sweetheart and Rose can't handle it


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!!!

‘No, I’m not letting you drive when your upper half is wet. You’re coming to my place.’ Luisa’s voice didn’t sound demanding, but Rose felt like she was being ordered to do something. Luisa was serious; the last thing she wanted was for the woman to catch a cold.

‘No need,’ Rose said indifferently.

Luisa, of course, insisted. ‘Besides, you’ve never been to my place before,’ she protested, taking Rose by the hand.

Rose appreciated Luisa’s move. Her dripping white shirt wasn’t too comfortable an outfit for afternoon New York.

Luisa internally thanked the sudden thunderstorm that had forced them to abandon a friendly walk at the park to find refuge at her place. On the way home, she wished her apartment wasn’t too much of a mess; she couldn’t recall if she had actually cleaned up last night or not.

‘It’s not half the size of yours,’ Luisa said once they were in her apartment.

Rose glared at her. As if that actually mattered, she told her in a serious tone. Luisa gave an apologetic smile and went to her bedroom to search for something for Rose.

‘It’s cute and personal,’ Rose admitted while toying a gold cup on a shelf, when Luisa came back in a t-shirt, holding a hoodie for Rose.

‘Here. This will keep you warm.’ She handed it to her.

‘Thanks.’

‘You can go change in—’ Rose cut her mid-sentence with her signals that she should turn around. Luisa sighed, and shook her head comically as she turned around. ‘That’ll do, too, I guess.’

Rose let her know she was ready and that she could turn back around. She noticed an innocent smile appear on the young woman’s face.

‘It looks really good on you,’ Luisa admitted. Her hardly-dampened raven hair falling on soft curls on her shoulders made Luisa's heart skip a bit or two. She offered her something to drink, an excuse to get some air, but Rose followed her to the kitchen. Some coffee would be fine, the woman said, as she leaned, her back against the counter.

She watched as the brunette prepared the coffee, her hands getting momentarily clumsy, when she felt Rose’s eyes watch each of her moves.

Luisa, finally, fixed some fresh orange juice and coffee, put some cookies on a plate, and filled a jug of water. Rose noticed how the water sparkled under the low kitchen lights and was reminded of Luisa’s eyes. She felt the need to look into the woman’s eyes, and so she did. When Luisa sat down on the small kitchen table across her, Rose didn’t touch anything she had prepared.

‘Don’t want your coffee?’ Luisa asked, putting a cookie in her mouth. Rose felt embarrassed she had ignored everything else in the room.

‘Just waited for you to sit down,’ she tried justifying herself.

It was still raining outside, the wind now throwing the raindrops in any direction. Rose felt the warmth inside Luisa’s apartment, near the young woman. The thought of leaving to go back to her place didn’t cross her mind in all the hours she was there, sitting across the woman, or when the young woman suggested they sat on the couch to be more comfortable. Why would she want to go back to her place, she thought; Maggie was at her father’s; Jean had plans for the night. Her cold, empty house at the moment felt like the worst of purgatories.

She heard Luisa ask her if she could get to the following week’s classes a bit earlier to work on a few moves she wanted to teach. Rose agreed. She looked out the window. It was dark outside, had been for hours. Winter, she thought, who would have imagined that she would feel so euphoric when it was still winter.

She had noticed some framed photographs of Luisa on a wooden drawer in the living room. Late teenage, early-twenties, the young woman had clarified—or rather, tried to justify the nose ring and the fashion sense. She had decided to keep them as reminders of good times.

Rose felt the need to tell her that she found that Luisa to be very charming—and she did tell her.

‘I’d die to see what teenage Rose looked like, to be honest,’ Luisa said innocently.

‘I did some rebellious shit back then,’ Rose said and chuckled.

‘Do tell,’ Luisa encouraged her, bringing one hand behind her back.

Rose didn’t look her in the eye as she delivered the phrase, but she did have a smile on her face. Her hands fidgeted with the hoodie’s laces, ‘I may or may not have got a tattoo without telling my parents and hid it up until today.’ 

Luisa gasped dramatically. ‘Our teenage selves would be best friends,’ she said boldly and grinned.

‘I’ll show it to you some time,’ she said and cocked an eyebrow.

She checked the time. She was surprised to find time had flew by. No wonder, on second thought, time with Luisa was always like this: some limited time in heaven she had somehow won. She now had to get out to the real world.

‘Anyway, I had better go, it’s getting late,’ Rose said, as she got up.

‘You can stay if you’d like,’ Luisa said, also standing up, and fixed the hoodie’s laces.

‘I have to get up very early tomorrow morning.’ Rose’s voice sounded almost disappointed. She kissed Luisa goodnight on both cheeks, before leaving.

Twenty minutes later, Luisa received a message on her phone. Supposing it was Rose, she immediately unlocked it to see a selfie the woman had sent her: Rose, sitting on a couch in front of a fireplace, in her hoodie. Luisa felt a warm smile appear on her face, before replying with her own selfie in Rose’s white shirt and overcoat, which the woman had forgotten at her place. She even sent the following caption: _‘holding hostage your clothes. If you want to see them again, meet me for lunch Monday.’_

Rose’s reply came seconds later: _‘we have a deal.’_

* * *

‘It doesn’t work like that. I don’t work like that.’

She knew she was hurting Luisa with what she was now saying, but she couldn’t do otherwise. She indeed had promised to meet her for lunch. She remembered the feeling when she had received the text slyly asking her to do so. And now the woman had come to pick her up.

But, it was Monday, a fresh start at her big cases, whose deadlines were running and running, until they caught up with her and she felt they choked her.

‘I see. I am clearly merely a distraction,’ Luisa said bitterly. ‘Anyway, I had better go.’ And she started for the office’s door.

‘No, Luisa. I’m sorry. Please, stay,’ Rose said softly, taking Luisa by the hand and leading her to the couch where she seated herself and urged Luisa to sit next to her.

Luisa obeyed willingly, but the pout was fixed on her face. What she felt was mostly disappointment; she had expected the other woman to give up everything, her work, her free time, to hang out with her. She was clearly becoming over-demanding and see could only see it now. It’s not like they even dated to have such high demands from the other woman, she thought.

She wanted to apologize. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realize—’

‘No, I’m sorry. You just wanted to help. It’s just, I get so blinded by work sometimes.’

‘You don’t say,’ Luisa mocked with a smile.

‘Let’s go. We’ll get ice-cream,’ Rose suggested. It was almost as if she was talking to a child. Ice-cream, Luisa thought and tried to mock the idea. But, she was only human; she adored ice-cream.

‘No, you don’t have to. I know you have lots of work.’

‘Luisa, you’re probably the only person I would skip work to hang out with,’ Rose said softly and Luisa couldn’t help but bite her lower lip. Luisa reached for Rose’s glasses and pushed them onto the woman’s raven hair so that she could have immediate contact with the most beautiful pair of eyes she had ever seen. Rose smiled.

A faint knock was heard and Rose wasn’t sure if it had been her door they knocked.

A second more stern knock was heard. Luisa hoped off Rose’s personal space and onto a further spot on the couch. The other woman went to open the door.

‘Jean? Right on time,’ she said sarcastically, but neither Jean nor Luisa noticed.

‘What—are you—talking about?’ Jean asked confused as he entered the office. ‘Luisa, hi, didn’t know you were here,’ he greeted the young woman, who had taken a folder from the coffee table to fan herself. Luisa greeted him back. ‘Rose, I came for the Glenn file.’

‘Yeah, yeah, here.’ She gave him a file. ‘Also, Jean…could you please work on that ‘til I get back?’ She gave him another file, this time a bit hesitantly.

‘This case? Are you sure?’ Jean asked, as he skimmed through the first page.

‘Just an hour or so. I’ll stop by your office to collect it.’

* * *

Rose went straight to Jean’s office to get the file back. Her mood was much improved—well, it was above average for a Monday.

‘So…?’ Jean asked, sitting behind a desk, leaning back against his chair.

‘So, what?’ Rose asked, busy reading something Jean had highlighted.

‘What was all this about? You never let anyone touch these cases. You keep them to yourself.’

Rose looked at him, trying to feign a serious face. ‘I’m overloaded with cases this season. I needed a break.’

‘Was it worth it, at least?’ he asked, but Rose’s now grinning face was enough to let him know.

‘Every minute of it.’

‘I’m happy for you,’ he said and patted her on the shoulder before noticing what she was wearing. ‘What’s with the leather jacket?’

‘I, uh, got cold and Luisa offered me her jacket,’ Rose said shyly and felt her cheeks get rosy. She absentmindedly reached for the collar of the jacket and sniffed it, the young woman's smell sending her to another dimension. 

Jean sighed, pleased with the answer. ‘Did you guys kiss, yet?’ he asked, slightly spinning his chair.

‘We were about to, but then you decided to interrupt.’ Rose’s voice wasn’t laced with anger. 

‘Oh, man,’ he said, leaning forward. ‘You’re the most married non-couple in New York.’

* * *

After hours of hanging out with some old friends, Luisa returned home. Rose had informed her she would be having an urgent hearing and, thus, would be at court most of the afternoon. Luisa had acted as if it wasn’t much of a big deal to her—she had grown fond of hanging out with Rose, but she could spare her an afternoon, couldn't she?

Her phone rang and she languidly reached for it. It wasn’t like she was expecting anyone special to call.

‘Luisa, hi, how are you?’ a familiar voice was heard.

‘Rose, hey, great, how are you?’ She would be lying if she said she wasn't delighted by the sudden call. 

‘Good. Are you free right now?’ Rose asked hesitantly and Luisa almost forgot to breathe.

‘Ye—yeah, sure, why?’ she asked not knowing what to expect but secretly hoping she would ask her out.

‘Could you do me a favor? I’m stuck in court and I have to pick up Maggie from her father’s. Could you do that for me, darling?’ Rose asked and her voice was revealing some kind of embarrassment.

‘Sure, yeah. Just text me the address and I’ll go,’ Luisa offered wholeheartedly.

‘Thanks. You can take my car if you wish…’

‘Court house’s five minutes from my place, plus, I’d love to see you, so, perfect.’

‘I’ll see you in five, then.’

 _I’d love to see you…_ wow _._ Rose was left reciting the phrase in the hallway when Luisa arrived looking cool and relaxed. She leaned in to kiss the other woman on the cheek.

‘You’re a life saver.’

‘It’s no big deal,’ Luisa said, blushing. Rose gave her the keys to her car.

‘I’ll come home as soon as court is over.’

* * *

 

Luisa was a bit hesitant about knocking on Jeremiah's door. Going over to the house of the ex-husband of her crush was good enough a reason to make her nervous. But she had to.

She knocked firmly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> heyyyyyyyyy

Luisa was a bit hesitant about knocking on Jeremiah’s door. Going over to the house of the ex-husband of her crush was good enough a reason to make her nervous. But she had to.

She knocked, firmly. A tall, sturdy man opened the door.

‘How can I help you?’ the man asked.

‘Hi, I am here to pick up Maggie,’ Luisa said with a half-smile.

Jeremiah’s eyes went narrow in disbelief. If anything, that man was suspicious of anyone. ‘I’m Rose’s assistant. Rose is at court, so, she sent me to get her daughter,’ she added when the man didn’t say a thing.

Maggie had by this second realized that someone –most probably her mother— was at the door, so she came running from her bedroom.

‘Luisa,’ she exclaimed as she ran under her father’s legs to come and hug her.

‘I’m here to take you home,’ she muttered as she kneeled. The little girl jumped up and down, and Luisa told her to go fetch her stuff so that they would leave. She got back to her feet.

‘How come my daughter knows you?’ he asked, full of suspicion. Of who, and why, Luisa wasn’t sure.

‘I told you. I’m Rose’s assistant. The girl has seen around me a few times.’

‘I didn’t know my daughter hugs Rose’s assistants,’ he spat out.

‘She does now,’ Luisa replied slyly, folding her arms before her chest.

‘Luisa, I’m ready.’ Maggie showed up from the corner and came right by Luisa’s side.

‘No goodbye hug?’ the man complained, changing his tone.

Maggie came back and hugged him for a short instance before grabbing Luisa’s hand and leading her to the elevator. ‘Bye, daddy.’

* * *

When Rose turned her phone on after court was dismissed, she received a message from Luisa. It was a selfie of her and Maggie in the car, poking their tongues out. Rose smiled widely; wide enough for Jean to notice.

‘I guess you’re not _that_ happy just because you did good at the hearing,’ Jean noted, vainly trying to peek at Rose’s phone. Rose laughed. She pretended she didn’t know what he was talking about. ‘You were smiling like a dork seconds ago,’ Jean pointed to the phone.

Rose smiled once again. She, then, unlocked the phone to show Jean the reason she had been smiling.

‘Oh,’ he said softly. Rose shook her head emphatically. ‘Okay, yeah, now I get it,’ he said, also smiling. ‘Come, I’ll give you a lift back home to your wife and kid,’ he said, taking Rose by the arm, laughing.

On the ride home, Rose received a call from Jeremiah. She wouldn’t have answered if he wasn’t Maggie’s father, she admitted to herself. She didn’t need any negativity at that time of the day.

‘Anything wrong, Jeremiah?’ she asked bitterly.

‘Just wanted to let you know, your new assistant is quite an arrogant. I have no idea how you put up with her.’

‘New assistant?’ Rose parroted, confused.

‘That girl Lois you sent to pick up Maggie,’ he said slyly.

‘Luisa?’ she corrected him, a bit harshly. ‘Well, you said it yourself, she’s _my_ assistant, and none of your business.’

‘Yeah, but–’

‘Don’t tell me how pick my friends and staff,’ Rose said as calmly as she could. ‘I gotta go, bye, Jeremiah,’ Rose said, not waiting a minute longer for him to finish the conversation.

‘Well, that was salty. What’s wrong?’ Jean asked, surprised by the woman’s reaction.

‘He didn’t like Luisa, that’s what wrong,’ Rose said annoyed. ‘Anyway, I’m not gonna let him spoil my mood.’

‘And your evening with your wife.’ Rose side-eyed him the best she could. 

* * *

Rose unlocked the door to find Maggie and Luisa playing chess in the living room. _That’s interesting_ , she thought.

‘Hi, mommy,’ Maggie said, not tearing her eyes from the chess table.

‘Hey, Rose,’ Luisa said, doing the same. The both looked at it really perplexed. Then, they looked at each other in the most serious way they could, and back again at the table. Rose tried hard not to laugh.

She approached them and when she felt very neglected, she kissed Maggie on the head. She didn’t realize it before it was too late, but she’d also proceeded and kissed Luisa on the head.

Luisa could feel her whole body become disorganized. Fuck, she had been building up her concentration all afternoon, and a single kiss by Rose was enough to send it all down the drain. She relaxed herself and looked up at Rose. She tried her best not to look like a smiling dork.

‘Are you trying to memorize their places on the table?’ Rose laughed.

‘How did court go?’ Luisa asked, focusing back on the table, but it was getting harder and harder as the older woman, having stepped out of her shoes, came to sit right beside the chess game.

Maggie made her move. Luisa brought her hand and placed it on her chin. She stayed watching the table for a moment before moving a pawn getting one of Maggie’s out. ‘Hah,’ Luisa said in Maggie’s face.

Maggie chuckled and moved a pawn of her own. ‘Checkmate,’ Maggie said and got up to celebrate her victory. Luisa was left wondering how she had let this move slide from her attention.

‘No worries. You know what they say: unlucky in cards, lucky in love.’ Rose laughed and Luisa couldn’t help but laugh too. Not sure if it was because it was absolutely spontaneous, if it was because, yeah, they were not playing cards but the idiom was still relevant, or if it was because it came from Rose, the woman she had been crushing on for a while now. But she enjoyed it. And, yeah, she enjoyed watching Rose laugh.

‘Wanna play a round with me? It’s been a while since I played chess. Maybe you could beat _me,_ ’ Rose asked with a wink.

Luisa was at loss for words. She simply motioned her hand invitingly. 

Halfway through the game, Rose noticed how troubled Luisa looked and stopped whatever she was doing.

‘Is something troubling you?’ Rose asked, voice concerned, but posture decisive as always.

‘Um?’ Luisa asked, tearing her eyes away from the chess game.

‘What’s troubling you? You’re not concentrated to the game.’

‘Oh, nothing, really. I’m just very tired,’ she admitted. That, and the fact she could not concentrate to the game with Rose being right opposite her and being all serious and beautiful. ‘My head is a mess with that much chess.’

‘I’m sorry. Of course, you’re tired. And I asked you to play with me,’ the woman said apologetically. Luisa insisted it was fine, but Rose announced that they were not playing any more chess tonight. ‘So how was your meeting with Jeremiah?’ Rose asked half-hesitantly, while displacing all the pawns from the table.

‘Better than expected,’ she replied. ‘He repeatedly asked me why Maggie hugged me when she saw me.’

Rose sighed. ‘What did you tell him?’

‘More or less, to get used to it,’ laughed Luisa and Rose laughed with Luisa’s genuine response.

‘You know,’ Rose started, toying a pawn, ‘he called me after court to tell me my new _assistant_ is quite an arrogant,’ she continued emphasizing the word assistant.

‘He did?’ Luisa smiled. Rose nodded positively.

‘So, assistant?’ Rose asked again.

‘Yeah,’ she said innocently, ‘no?’ Rose shook her head with a smile. Luisa could not decide what it was about that word that bothered her. But it did bother her, she could see it in her eyes. ‘Sorry, I didn’t realize it would be trouble if I told him I was your assistant.’

‘I just hope you don’t think I’m taking advantage of our friendship—’

‘No, of course not,’ Luisa protested.

‘Because I do admire and love you.’ Rose let the sentence get out as naturally as she could.

Luisa tried to hold back a tear that was threatening to fall from the edge of her eye. She could not, however, see the reason why tearing up at the given moment would be a bad idea. She was human, after all, and the woman before her was saying some of the most beautiful things anyone had ever told her. She couldn’t hold it any longer; she let it fall on her cheek.

‘Definitely one of the most beautiful things anyone has ever told me.’

Rose let one of her hands and brought it to wipe the tear from her cheek, only to find another coming down her face. ‘You deserve to be told such things all day long.’

Luisa’s voice came out husky as she chuckled, ‘Sorry, I guess I’m very sensitive.’

‘All the more reason to love you.’ When a bunch of tears came down Luisa’s face and she couldn’t wipe it with her fingers any longer, Rose joked, ‘sorry, I’ll stop.’ She handed her a tissue. ‘You’re too pure to be human.’

Luisa didn’t say a word, she simply dragged Rose closer to hug her as tightly as she could.

Maggie who had been watching TV was now back to check the score. But, instead of a score, she was met with the two women hugging, Luisa sniffing as her tears had now stopped.

‘Mommy, why’s Luisa crying?’

‘She lost at chess,’ Rose lied to her; explaining how adulting and feelings concealment work to an eight-year-old would be difficult. Luisa laughed at the reason Rose had posed.

‘It’s true. I’m terrible at chess, can’t help it.’

‘Luisa, you missed most of the episode. You said you wanted to watch Supergirl with me,’ Maggie complained.

‘I’m sorry, Maggie, got caught up with chess,’ she replied motioning to Rose.

‘It’s okay, it’s almost over. You can watch it another time,’ the little girl shrugged before rushing to the living room to watch the rest of the episode.

‘I’m sorry you had to see this,’ Luisa said motioning to her face. ‘I certainly am not pretty when I cry,’ Luisa laughed.

‘What if I told you that you are?’ Rose said, one eyebrow cocked. Luisa playfully punched her on the shoulder.

Silence fell in the room for the next few minutes, but it wasn’t the awkward, soul-devouring kind; on the contrary, the two women simply appreciated the presence of the other.

When the end credits sounded from the TV in the living room, Luisa said, ‘I’d better go. It’s bed time for Maggie.’

‘You can stay, it’s not bedtime for me yet,’ Rose suggested, hitting on Luisa’s shoulder. ‘Wanna sleep-over?’

‘Would love to, but—’

‘Please…?’ Rose said as she fluttered her eyelashes invitingly. And that smile of hers did something to Luisa’s mind, it was paralyzing. Seriously, how could she say no to this?

‘Okay. I mean, why not?’ she replied as she threw her hands in the air. She definitely wasn’t ready for this, but, hey, she thought, why not?

‘Hang on, I’ll put Maggie to bed and I’ll get you some clothes so you can change,’ Rose said as she started climbing the stairs. She came back minutes later with Luisa’s hoodie and a pair of sweatpants. Rose handed them to Luisa with a smile.

‘This one looks familiar,’ she joked pointing at her hoodie. Rose laughed.

She blushed. ‘I’ve been meaning to return it—’

‘No, please, keep it.’

‘I was going to wear these, but you can have them, unless you prefer a nightdress.’ Rose cocked an eyebrow.

‘Nah, these are more my speed.’ Rose nodded and headed upstairs to change clothes.

A few minutes later, Rose descended the stairs. Luisa was settled on the couch zapping between channels when she saw Rose. The older woman was wearing a silver nightgown, which stopped right above the knee. Luisa tried to act as normal as possible while she eyed Rose from top to bottom. She could feel her mouth go dry at the majestic sight.

‘Yeah, that one would not look good on me,’ Luisa said, trying to downplay the fact that Rose had just appeared with the most sensual of outfits. On the inside, though, she was burning.

‘I’m sure you would look adorable no matter what you’re wearing,’ Rose said as she settled herself right next to Luisa. ‘Anything good on?’

‘Nothing special. Just a How to Get Away with Murder rerun.’

‘Ah, I love that show,’ Rose said with a grin.

‘You do?’ Rose nodded yes. ‘You know, you remind me of Annalise; strong, independent, best lawyer in the universe.’

‘Universe?’ Rose repeated with a light chuckle.

‘To me, yeah.’ Luisa stared deep in Rose’s blue eyes. She noticed them sparkle. Rose repositioned herself and opened her arms, so Luisa could crawl in.

Luisa didn’t for a second think of going anywhere else. This is where she wanted to be, inside the older woman’s arms. She could even let her last breath there and she wouldn’t even mind, because she would have been beside the woman.

Luisa’s phone buzzed and she was seriously considering not picking it up. She really wanted to cherish that evening in Rose’s embrace. Rose checked her phone and let her know her mother was calling. Luisa answered straight away. ‘Ma?’

‘Luisa, you’re not home yet? I tried calling you home, but you didn’t answer.’ Her mother was right. Her being excited over the idea of sleeping at Rose’s, she had forgotten to let her mother know, so that she wouldn’t worry.

‘No, ma. I’m staying at Rose’s for the night,’ Luisa said shyly, looking at Rose for a moment.

‘What? Am I missing anything?’ Luisa affirmed her that she wasn’t, and that she shouldn’t worry. ‘Anyway, I’m calling you tomorrow, so you can tell me everything,’ Jasmine said playfully.

Luisa felt herself blush in the idea of her telling her mother anything about her huge crush on the woman. She simply wished her a good night.

‘Tell her I say good night,’ Rose said excitedly.

So, she did. ‘Rose says good night.’

‘Good night to the couple,’ Jasmine said teasingly. Luisa wished Rose hadn’t heard that last part of the conversation. Her mother did talk loudly most of the times. After the phone call, Luisa went back into Rose’s embrace. 

 

Time passed and heavy lids threatened to close Rose’s eyes. Luisa agreed to going to bed.

Once they were in the bedroom, the two stood awkwardly in front of the bed.

‘Any preferences?’ Rose asked, nodding to the bed.

‘Nope. I usually just collapse on the bed and fall asleep,’ Luisa said comically and Rose motioned to the bed shrugging. Luisa lay on one side of the bed, far from where Rose was.

‘Why so far?’ Rose asked as she patted on the empty spot near her. Luisa came closer to her and got into Rose’s arms. Yes, she very much preferred that sleeping position. ‘Much better,’ she said as she got her head over the younger woman’s, her jaw resting on the brunette’s top.

Luisa’s breath was hot on her neck. She fell asleep to the tune of it, after covering both their bodies with two thick blankets. Not that she really needed one, since Luisa’s body next to hers was radiating warmth.

 

Rose went to wake up Luisa who was still sleeping peacefully. She went and sat at the side to which the woman’s back was facing. She got Luisa’s hair out of her face and swept it to the side exposing her neck. Absentmindedly, she lowered her face and kissed Luisa on the neck.

‘Luisa,’ she mumbled and felt the other woman tense up a bit. ‘Time to wake up,’ she said before placing another kiss on the same spot.

Luisa was now fully aware, no longer questioning whether she was dreaming or not. She hummed as she tried to stretch. ‘Morning, Rose,’ she purred with a smile. ‘What time is it?’

‘Nine. Go wash your face, darling. I made breakfast.’ 

* * *

‘What’s so funny?’ Jean asked but Rose was too caught up with something she was doing to notice that Jean was now in her office. Jean left a mug of coffee on Rose’s desk and only then did she notice that he was in the room.

‘Thanks,’ she said taking the mug closer to her. She took a sip and then got up to give Jean a file.

‘You won’t tell me?’ Jean asked, his hands folded before his chest.

‘Tell you what?’

‘The reason why you’re in such a good mood on a Monday morning.’ Rose smiled widely. ‘Luisa?’ She nodded. ‘Do tell.’

‘I slept with Luisa last night,’ she said with a smug grin on her face. Jean’s mouth dropped onto the floor. ‘Oh, no, not like that. We didn’t have sex or anything,’ Rose said grasping that Jean had misunderstood.

‘That’s new,’ Jean narrowed his eyes, ‘and weird.’

‘You know what’s weird, you’re still in my office after I gave you the file,’ Rose chuckled, trying to push him out of her office. 

* * *

As promised, Jasmine called in the morning to get her daughter to tell her everything about the previous night.

A good morning was enough before Jasmine got to the point, ‘how did you sleep at Rose’s? Are you still there? Tell me all the deets.’

Luisa let her know she was on her way to work. ‘I’m freaking out, mom. Rose kissed me—’

She found Jasmine’s reaction funny. ‘What? Wow. Did you kiss back? I knew you’re into the woman.’ She let all these in a matter of a couple seconds. Luisa shook her head with a smile.

‘She kissed me on the neck, ma. And, yes, I do like her.’ Jasmine almost screeched. She impatiently asked to know what happened next. ‘We had breakfast,’ Luisa answered indifferently.

‘You didn’t make out?’ the older woman asked. Luisa disappointedly said no. ‘That was not the time to be modest, Luisa!’

Jasmine had just scolded her in the strangest of ways possible. Luisa felt weird.

All that mattered to her was that they had slept together, she thought. She told her mother she had to work and hung up. 

* * *

_Are you up?_ Rose’s text message came as unexpected as ever.

‘Yeah, sure. Everything okay?’ she couldn’t help but feel kind of suspicious; it was late at night –well, late for Rose’s busy lifestyle and schedule, and a text from her at this hour, was making her worry. Unless, she was— 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the song briefly -blink and you'll miss it- mentioned in this chapter is this  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUVOsSXiDtQ

_Are you up?_ Rose’s text message came as unexpected as ever.

‘Yeah, sure. Everything okay?’ she couldn’t help but feel kind of suspicious; it was late at night –well, late for Rose’s busy lifestyle and schedule, and a text from her at this hour, was making her worry. Unless, she was— 

Luisa’s eyes went wide; she started getting mad, before receiving a reply. _‘Yeah, just couldn’t sleep...’_

_‘Don’t worry, you’ll be asleep in no time.’_

_‘Didn’t work. And I’m out of sleeping pills.’_

Luisa didn’t need to give it any thought, she had to help Rose. _‘Could bring you some if you’d like…’_

_‘No need to hustle all the way here.’_

_‘But you need them… And it’s not like I’m doing anything special at the moment.’_

_‘What’re you doing?’_ Luisa pondered whether she should tell her what she was really doing.

_‘Just watching something on YouTube. SuperCorp crack.’_ She just really hoped the woman didn’t consider her an idiot.

_‘You never sleep?’_ Luisa read the text and imagined the woman delivering the sentence with a slight smile.

_‘Nah. I can get there in fifteen minutes with my bike, just saying…’_ She knew Rose was just being polite. But, she herself had no problem riding to Rose’s place at any time as long as that meant she would see her.

_‘No, I don’t want you driving at this time.’_

_‘Okay, mom,’_ Luisa mockingly texted, but deep down, her own reply stirred some emotions in her.

And, then, for the next eight minutes, silence. That was all it took Rose to reconsider Luisa’s idea. The final text she received made her heart race faster than it already did.

_‘Is your offer still on? Come over. I’ll be waiting.’_

Luisa responded she would be over in fifteen minutes. She had never got dressed faster than she did that night.

_I’m at your door,_ Luisa texted Rose. Well, ringing the bell wouldn’t be very wise; she was very much aware that Maggie was upstairs sleeping.

‘I’m sorry I brought you all the way here,’ Rose said apologetically, kissing Luisa on the cheek.

‘No worries. I was getting bored all alone at home,’ Luisa replied, coming into the house. ‘Brought something I was drinking at home.’ She handed Rose a bottle of wine. Rose invited her upstairs.

‘Make yourself at home,’ she said once they were in the bedroom. Rose went to bring two glasses for the wine.

‘Not sure if you should drink if you’re still taking a sleeping pill, though.’ Luisa sat on the bed, and then came to lay on it, hands supporting her head.

‘Well, if I take one now,’ she said, giving Luisa one of the glasses, ‘I’ll wake up tomorrow afternoon. Thought maybe hanging around with you would help me relax.’ She came to lay on the bed, too, spreading the covers over her and Luisa.

‘What’s gotten you so tense, to begin with?’ she repositioned herself, sitting up on the bed, her back on the bedhead. She motioned to Rose to do the same, or rather, to come rest her body on hers.

Rose caressed the back of her own head. ‘Tough case, there’s this client coming tomorrow. Krakow,’ she explained, bringing her head to rest on Luisa’s shoulder.

‘I don’t see why the best lawyer in the universe has to worry over a client.’

Rose shrugged. ‘Well, he is running for governor, and as much as I despise him, he’s still a client of the firm.’

‘The empire,’ Luisa corrected her. ‘I see,’ she said, narrowing her eyes.

‘Why did you have sleeping pills in the first case? I’m pretty sure you don’t need them.’

‘Long story short, I had an injury a year ago and I had to stay in bed for a week. Pain was insufferable, I had problem sleeping, so, yeah, I had to take the pills.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.’ Rose wouldn’t have imagined that.

‘No problem. You can ask me _anything,_ ’ Luisa said invitingly.

‘Anything?’ Rose repeated slyly. She chuckled because ‘do you wanna make out with me’ would be too straightforward to ask, so, no, she didn’t. ‘Any kind of special other? You never talk to me about these things. Go.’

‘Um, let me think. I was seeing a girl, like, three months ago, but we split before my new classes started. I, uh, wasn’t feeling it. I mean, yeah, sex was good, but there was no emotional attachment or anything.’ She momentarily paused, feeling like she was overexposing herself. But, she went on anyway, ‘other than that, um, a _thing_ with a colleague of yours, and that’s all for now.’

Rose skipped commenting on the last part, lest she should feel once again jealous. ‘Well, you’re an attractive woman, you can have whoever you wish,’ she said, bringing her glass of wine to her lips and sipping some.

‘You think so?’ Luisa asked, biting her lower lip. ‘What about you? I only know you broke up, like, two years ago,’ she said, trying to get some air.

‘Well, there’s really nothing to say—after the whole thing with the divorce, I buried myself with work, not to get over the break up, no, I was more than relieved, but to prove to myself I could provide for Maggie all alone. I didn’t, and still don’t, want any of this bastard’s money. Anyway, apart from all this, no, I am now realizing I haven’t dated anyone for years.’ How weird it felt now that she was saying it out loud. It was literally the first time she felt anything like this for another person. She hadn’t, never for a second, felt this way about her ex-husband—not even when he was treating her nice.

Rose had no time for this kind of thoughts. She changed the subject to something lighter.

Later, the bottle of wine was over and Rose was feeling very relaxed, mostly because of Luisa’s presence. She put her glass on the nightstand and rested her head on Luisa’s shoulder.

‘Thanks for coming. I appreciate it. You’re like the only person I know who would do such a thing.’ 

‘Anytime,’ Luisa replied in a heartbeat.

‘Literally,’ Rose laughed. ‘Thanks,’ she said again, putting her arms around Luisa.

Luisa fully embraced her, so, now, Rose was in her arms.

‘So, what’s SuperCorp?’ Rose asked innocently. ‘Earlier, when I asked you what you were doing...’ she didn’t bother finishing her sentence.

‘It’s Kara and Lena’s ship—relationship name.’

She laughed a short melodic laugh. ‘Let me quote Lena, then. Supergirl may have superpowers, but you, Luisa Alver, are my hero,’ she mumbled as she absentmindedly lowered her head to rest it on Luisa’s collarbone. She felt sweet slumber seal her eyes.

Luisa smiled to herself. If the woman could fall asleep on her, she could see no reason why she shouldn’t feel like the luckiest woman on earth.

She just wished the other woman hadn’t noticed her heart beating like it wanted to get out of her chest since she got into her bed.

She tilted her head so she could find a comfortable position without disturbing Rose and closed her eyes. 

* * *

‘Rose,’ Luisa whispered, while running her fingers through dark hair. The older woman hummed, her eyes still closed. ‘It’s almost 8:30. Gotta go to that appointment with Krakow,’ Luisa said softly. 

Rose’s eyes went from happily closed to wide open. ‘Oh, God. Maggie,’ she said anxiously.

‘I sent Maggie to school. Take your time to wake up,’ Luisa said lovingly, her hand still in Rose’s hair, massaging her head.

‘You did?’ Rose asked, cupping her cheeks. Luisa nodded. ‘You’re an angel.’ She languidly tried to sit up on the bed. ‘God, I hadn’t slept like that in a while.’ Luisa didn’t reply to any of these. She just remained staring lovingly in Rose’s eyes. ‘Did Maggie say anything?’

‘Nothing, really. She saw you sleep peacefully and understood,’ Luisa lied.

She couldn’t tell her the whole truth about Maggie’s reaction when she saw Luisa was the one to wake her up instead of her mother.

_‘So, are you and mommy dating now?’ the little girl asked._

_‘What? No—not yet,’ Luisa replied with a wink. ‘Would it be okay with you if we did, though?’_

_‘I think so. I like you, Luisa. You’re funny,’ Maggie said innocently._

_‘Thanks,’ Luisa laughed. All good, she told herself, just got greenlighted by Maggie, try not to cry._

‘Thanks, darling.’ Luisa was brought back to reality as Rose placed a kiss on her cheek, taking her breakfast plate from the counter.

‘Stop thanking me,’ Luisa said, leaning against the counter.

‘Stop doing sweet things then.’

Luisa turned the radio on. She searched for a decent song –well, decent enough for a Wednesday morning, when she started jumping up and down in excitement.

‘That’s my jam,’ she turned around to tell Rose and then turned back around. Rose ate silently as she watched Luisa slowly move her body to the song.

Rose came and hugged Luisa from behind, so her hands were now around Luisa’s waist and her head resting on the young woman’s shoulder.

‘ _Just Another Day_?’ the taller woman asked.

‘Mhmm,’ Luisa hummed happily.

They moved their bodies in unison, Luisa keeping her eyes closed, and only opening it to joke, ‘you’re really good at dancing. Have you been taking classes?’

Rose burst out laughing. ‘I hate you,’ she said with the biggest grin on her face.

When the song was over, Rose at first hesitated leaving Luisa, but, did break away from her to finish her breakfast and leave for work.

* * *

Later that day, Rose had to reschedule her timetables to agree to prepping Krakow for an imminent trial. Once again, Luisa had to come to her rescue. It was true, after all—what she had told her last night; she was her personal hero.

‘Thanks again, you’re an angel,’ Rose said, before Luisa opened the door for her to exit.

‘Stop thanking me, just go,’ Luisa said, blushing. And so she did. ‘Maggie, mommy’s gone,’ Luisa shouted to no particular direction.

The little girl approached her and asked her what they’d be up to, jumping up and down out of excitement.

‘First, you are gonna do your homework and, then, we can do anything, even go over to the moon for a walk,’ Luisa said suggestively and Maggie chuckled. She went to get her books.

They spent the next hour studying together, Luisa being astonished by the girl’s genius despite her young age.

‘Do they teach you these at school?’ she asked when Maggie had shared some unknown fact.

‘No, mommy taught me.’

‘Okay, wanna do something fun?’ Luisa asked while getting off the couch.

‘Yeah,’ Maggie replied excitedly.

‘Come with me,’ she said, heading to the kitchen. ‘So, we are going to make a cake for mommy, what do you think?’

Maggie told her that she liked the idea and raised her hand to high-five Luisa.

The redhead girl carefully prepared and gave the ingredients as she was instructed. Luisa, on the other hand, measured everything to help make it perfect and handled the cooking utensils. From time to time, they stopped preparing the cake to show each other their chocolate-filled hands or to “accidentally” drop some on the other’s face.

‘Okay, now we’ll put it in the fridge,’ Luisa declared, taking the baking pan and putting it on one of the shelves.

Maggie pouted. ‘Why can’t we eat it now?’

‘Because it needs to get cool; we’ll eat it when mommy’s back,’ Luisa said kneeling to face the girl and fix her frown. They proceeded to wash off the dough off their hands and faces. Luisa made sure she had taken a selfie of them both before cleaning themselves.

‘Now what, Luisa?’ Maggie asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Luisa replied, hand on her chin trying to think of something.

‘Let’s draw something!’ the girl exclaimed seconds later. She went to her room to get her drawing book and crayons.

They both got to work, trying to impress each other, eventually stopping to laugh at the other’s drawing, and back to their works.

On the second round of drawing, they separated sides on the table and started drawing something to overawe the other. When they were both ready, Luisa told the girl they would show the other their drawing on three. She gasped when she saw the girl’s drawing.

‘It’s your portrait,’ she said proudly.

‘Oh, man, it’s good! I drew a unicorn,’ Luisa chuckled.

‘It doesn’t look like a unicorn,’ Maggie said and laughed in her face.

Luisa feigned disappointment. ‘You, on the other hand, have a talent.’

‘I got it from mommy.’ Maggie stuck her tongue out to mock Luisa’s drawing.

‘No, you didn’t,’ Luisa said playfully and took a pillow from the couch and softly hit her on her arm. Maggie’s surprised face was too funny and Luisa burst out laughing, before a cushion hit her right on the face. Luisa comically narrowed her eyes before getting up, Maggie doing the same.

‘Surrender,’ Luisa proposed. Maggie refused, sticking her tongue out again, and that’s how they ended up cushion-fighting.

‘Your mom will be here any minute, let’s put these back,’ Luisa suggested, when they were both panting. Maggie nodded, smiling.

A moment later, and when they had tidied the living room up, Rose opened the front door.

‘Mommy,’ Maggie exclaimed, running towards her mother, Luisa following her.

‘Hi, baby. How are you?’ Rose asked, lifting Maggie into her embrace.

‘Great.’

Rose greeted Luisa, who was leaning against a wall a few meters from where she was.

‘So, how was your day with Luisa?’ Rose asked, her eyes fixed on Luisa; the brunette always had this effect on her, she just couldn’t bring herself to look at anyone or anything else in the room.

‘We had _so_ much fun. And we have a surprise for you.’

‘You do?’ she asked, taken by surprise.

‘Come with me,’ the little girl said, taking her mom’s hand and leading her to the kitchen.

Luisa opened the fridge and got their cake out for Rose to see.

‘You didn’t—’ Rose said looking at Luisa, but pointing to the cake.

‘Yeah, we did,’ Luisa said, a smug grin on her face.

‘Can we try it now?’ Maggie asked, interrupting their staring game.

‘Yes, please. I’m starving,’ Rose said, taking three plates out, Luisa cutting the cake in pieces.

‘It’s chocolate cheesecake, in case you were wondering,’ Luisa said to Rose, nudging her arm to get her attention.

‘It’s perfect,’ Maggie exclaimed, and raised her hand to high-five Luisa. Rose agreed to that, kissing her daughter on the forehead.

‘Yeah, looks like my mission here is complete,’ Luisa said comically, but Rose could tell her mood had dropped.

‘Stay a few more minutes,’ Rose proposed, and before Luisa could protest, she turned to Maggie. ‘You should get in bed, now, Miss. Go brush your teeth.’

Maggie left for the bathroom.

‘I’ll call a cab,’ Rose proposed. Luisa looked at her, she didn’t say anything. She would walk home –it was a long walk home—but she wouldn’t mind.

‘Can I—put her to bed, ‘til the taxi’s here?’ Luisa asked, smiling widely. Maggie had by now finished brushing her teeth and had approached the two women.

‘Sure.’

‘Yay,’ Maggie exclaimed, taking Luisa by the hand and climbing the stairs together, Rose right behind them. After the girl had been put to bed and kissed goodnight, the two women descended the stairs, Luisa first, Rose after her.

When they reached the ground floor, Luisa went to reach for her leather jacket only to be stopped by Rose.

‘Wait,’ she murmured, as she caught Luisa’s hand by the wrist. ‘I wanted to thank you, _again_.’ She brought one hand and cupped the back of the brunette’s head with it. Rose applied the slightest of pushing force on it while leaning in to meet Luisa’s longing lips.

She had been thinking a lot about this, kissing Luisa. Rose might had been older than the brunette, but she had no experience when it came to courting. For this reason, she had been pondering for a while now, not sure of what her next move should be.

But, now that her lips were on Luisa’s dreamy, she felt she was doing the right thing. It felt almost as if they were all alone in space, the woman’s lips clinging to hers as if they would provide her with oxygen.

Her tongue hesitantly licked the woman’s lips, when a taxi’s horn was heard and Rose broke the kiss only to be kissed by Luisa. The younger woman placed her hands on Rose’s hips and pushed their bodies together.

Rose couldn’t be giddier.

When a second horn was heard, Luisa broke the kiss. ‘I have to go,’ she said, smiling, but her voice was laced with something akin to sadness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you didn't think I'd actually do it, did you?


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter is kinda rated m

_Come outside._ Luisa read the text as soon as she received it. She put on a sweatshirt over her t-shirt and headed to the door. Rose was waiting there in her hoodie and a pair of leggings. Luisa bit her lip before throwing her arms around Rose’s neck.

‘Hey.’

‘Popping unannounced?’

‘Couldn’t wait ‘til six in the afternoon,’ Rose said, staring into Luisa’s eyes.

‘I don’t blame you,’ Luisa said, before leaning in to brush her lips on Rose’s soft. ‘Love the outfit,’ she said seductively.

‘Wanna go to the park?’ Rose asked shyly.

Wow, Luisa thought, that was new. She couldn’t help but grin. She accepted; such invitations don’t require much thinking. She went back in to get her phone and keys. She wasn’t sure if she should grab Rose by the arm or just walk by her side on their way to the park.

To her relief, Rose decided to take her hand in hers.

When they got to the green paradise inside the city, they searched for a big tree that would provide much shade on a sunny day. Rose sat down against the tree and Luisa sat down opposite her, supporting herself on her hands. Rose smiled at her, Luisa scooted closer, well, close enough that she could lean in to kiss the woman.

‘Luisa,’ Rose said hesitantly. She didn’t continue when Luisa opened her eyes and waited for her to go on. She flashed her an awkward smile.

‘Please, don’t tell me you’ve regretted it,’ she said impatiently. Rose reassured that was not the case. ‘You can tell me anything,’ she encouraged.

‘Please, don’t hate me,’ Rose started nervously. Luisa affirmed her that there could be no such case. She took a deep breath and then continued, ‘can we, um, keep this a secret—just for a little while—I swear.’ She exhaled and waited for the worst.

‘Is that all?’ Luisa asked with a smile. Rose nodded yes. ‘I mean, no problem.’ She cupped Rose’s cheeks with tenderness. The result was hilarious when reality hit her; her smile changed into a serious tone, ‘does that mean no kissing in public?’

‘Anywhere near my workplace, at least.’ Rose lowered her eyes.

‘Well, you now have one more reason to come visit me at work,’ Luisa said softly.

Rose was still wondering if it had been too much to ask. Even if it was, Luisa was handling it perfectly, she thought. Luisa still had her hands on Rose’s cheeks and was about to kiss her, but stopped before her lips touched Rose’s. ‘Is kissing in the park allowed?’

‘Yes, you nerd,’ Rose chuckled, before kissing Luisa.

* * *

Rose was punctual to their usual rendezvous before their dancing classes. She would go fifteen to thirty minutes earlier so that Luisa could work on any moves they would demonstrate to the class, so as to avoid any delays or even awkwardness.

This time was special, though. They indeed did work on some moves, Rose momentarily floating on air, Luisa’s firm arms around her waist to hold her tight. When the music was over, Luisa turned her head, so she could find Rose’s face, who was standing right behind her, hands on her waist, body on hers. Rose put one hand on Luisa’s cheek and brought her in for a kiss as majestic as the suit they were dancing to moments ago.

They heard clapping from somewhere in the room, so they broke from the kiss to see their dance mates watching.

‘Now, I hope we won’t have to do the kissing part, too. Will we?’ someone said almost too comically for everyone not to laugh at the joke.

Rose felt herself blush. 

* * *

Luisa came back from the kitchen to find Rose in front of the fireplace. The woman lifted her gaze to meet hers. Rose winked at her and sat down on the couch.

‘Come sit here,’ Rose said, patting her own lap; double-dating with Jean and Oliver had gone perfectly; Luisa needed to be rewarded, she thought.

‘Your wish…’ Luisa said, sitting on her lap and brushing her lips against Rose’s.

She lowered her head, placing kiss on her face, her jawline, neck. She unbuttoned Rose’s sleeveless silk shirt gradually, leaving wet, hot kisses behind.

‘Luisa,’ Rose breathed, ‘no marks, please.’

‘I know,’ Luisa said between kisses.

It felt nice, she thought, being with someone who didn’t mind her sometimes-outraging control mania, who seemed to burn up inside the same way she did. The thought of it had her ovaries feel like they would explode.

Luisa’s tongue had gone on an excursion on Rose’s torso, licking everywhere, her bra threatened to be discarded. Rose’s hazy mind didn’t think it at all when she unstrapped it and place it on the side. Luisa took one of her swollen breasts into her mouth, Rose rolling her hips under her, craving more contact.

The brunette was too busy sucking Rose’s breast, almost as if trying to extract milk, to notice the phone vibrating on the coffee table. Rose did, however, and groaned out loud.

‘Can you, um, pass me my phone?’ she asked, with a bit difficulty; maybe it wasn’t a good idea to pick up the phone with Luisa’s mouth on her body. Luisa gave it to Rose and went back to what she was doing.

Rose tried her best to sound as normal as possible. ‘Hello?’

‘Rose, hi,’ a familiar voice said. ‘Are you home?’

Rose wasn’t in the right mind to lie, at the moment. ‘Yeah…’ she said hesitantly, ‘why?’

Her suspicions were confirmed when the woman on the other side said, ‘we’re at the door. Open up.’

‘Coming.’

‘Did you just pant?’ the unknown woman asked, and Rose felt embarrassed. She looked at the brunette, who was too busy on her chest.

‘Just coming down the stairs,’ she tried justifying herself. Rose hung up, and Luisa lifted her head.

‘Who was that? Everything okay?’

‘An old friend is at the door,’ she replied, rubbing her temples with her fingers. Luisa gasped, and buttoned Rose’s blouse. ‘Stay here,’ Rose said, repositioning her bra and straightening her blouse.

She opened the door, and a smile appeared on her face.

‘Hey.’

‘Welcome. Martha, you look great,’ hugging a woman.

‘You look great, too.’

Rose invited them inside.

‘Martha, Helen, this is Luisa.’ Martha came to greet her and Luisa came forth and offered one hand.

‘Coming down the stairs you said?’ Helen leaned closer and whispered into Rose’s ear.

Rose turned to look at her. ‘Shut up,’ she jokingly replied.

‘Luisa, hi, I’m Maggie’s godmother, and here’s my wife, Martha.’

‘Nice to meet you both, I’m Rose’s dance tutor.’

‘Dance tutor,’ Helen repeated, not quite believing it.

Rose asked them to sit anywhere and feel at home. She excused herself to bring some wine, and Luisa did the same to help her.

When they came back with the wine and a handful of glasses, they sat down awfully close to each other. There were moments Luisa or even Rose subconsciously reached for the other’s hand, caressing it, intertwining their fingers.

Rose did, but when she saw Martha smile, she dropped the woman’s hand and got up to pour some more wine.

She kept her legs crossed at all times, when sitting next to the brunette in hopes of cooling down and forgetting what the couple had just interrupted –maybe for the better, she thought; she would’ve preferred their first time to be more breath-taking, heart-stopping.

Luisa had no problem becoming friends with the women. No one wouldn’t not want to be friends with such a spectacular person, Rose thought and grinned, while looking at her appreciatively.

She hadn’t expected this to go that good; even when one of them asked, ‘so how long have you two been dating?’ Luisa had handled it delicately.

And, then, Luisa had to go home. ‘Sorry, ladies, I have to go. I work non-stop tomorrow.’

‘No, please stay. It’s nice to see Rose make a friend who’s not an uptight suburban mom.’

‘Rose is a suburban mom and I see nothing wrong about her,’ she said and Rose covered her hand with hers. Luisa quickly looked at it, before turning it around and lacing their fingers for a short moment. ‘Anyway, it was a pleasure.’

‘You’ll have to make it up, Luisa,’ Martha said, as the brunette stood up, Rose following her to the door.

Rose didn’t open the door, she just wrapped her arms around Luisa’s waist. ‘Do you want me to give you a lift with the car?’

‘No need, I’ll take a taxi to the city center,’ Luisa replied happily.

‘Sorry for the surprise visit,’ she mumbled and her smile was threatened by a small amount of regret.

‘Hey, it’s okay,’ Luisa replied and tried to make Rose smile again.

Rose leaned in to kiss her goodnight. Luisa placed her hands on Rose’s hips and dragged her closer. The kiss grew more intense, but Rose had to pull back before her visitors noticed she was gone for too long.

‘Text me when you get home.’

 

Twenty minutes later, Rose and her company were still in her living room, when Rose’s phone vibrated.

Rose immediately unlocked her phone and read the message ‘I’m home,’ and just as she had finished reading it, another message arrived, this time a photo of Luisa in her pajamas, accompanied by a goodnight caption. Rose smiled to herself as she stared at the photo.

‘Have you two started sexting, yet?’

‘Shut up, no,’ Rose said, blushing. ‘She just texted she made it home safely.’ She typed a reply before putting her phone down on the coffee table. ‘So, are you staying the night?’

‘We’re staying at Martha’s mother.’

Helen asked her if she was free tomorrow for lunch. ‘Unless you and Luisa have already made plans.’

Rose let her know that the brunette dance tutor would be working tomorrow. ‘It’s a date, then.’

‘Cool, we’ll see you tomorrow, then,’ Martha said, getting up.

‘Try not to sext too much with Luisa ‘til then.’

Rose chuckled. ‘Goodnight to you, too, Helen.’

* * *

The day had started great; the weather was sunny and not a single threatening cloud was at the horizon. Rose had brought turkey sandwiches, Luisa had brought various kinds of dessert. Rose seemed to be particularly astonished by the cupcakes with the rose frosting.

‘Be honest, how long did it take you to make these?’ Rose asked, laughing as she examined a cupcake.

‘Not as long as you’d expect. I am very good in the kitchen actually.’ She raised an eyebrow suggestively.

‘I appreciate the work,’ she said before bringing one of them to her mouth and eating it.

 

When they had finished eating, Rose rested her back at a tree that was behind her. ‘Come,’ she invited Luisa, who seconds later crawled toward her and placed her head on the older woman’s legs after kissing her.

‘I could stay like that forever,’ Luisa said, eyes closed.

‘Hmm,’ Rose hummed and played with Luisa’s hair.

Minutes later, Luisa repositioned herself so that she was now sitting next to Rose. ‘I would never expect that I would be dating the most beautiful woman on earth,’ she said, staring deeply into Rose’s blue eyes.

‘You’re an angel,’ Rose replied, putting a strand of Luisa’s hair behind her ear. She, then, scooted closer and hovered over her, so that she was practically straddling her.

‘Rose,’ Luisa managed to say between kisses, ‘wanna go to my place?’ She only opened her eyes to see the other woman’s response and was met with lust-filled blue eyes. Rose simply smirked invitingly while leaning her body backwards and resting her hands on the side. ‘You know we can’t do that here,’ Luisa reminded her. ‘And I really want to touch you,’ she whispered in the older woman’s ear.

‘Lead the way,’ Rose finally replied, satisfied.

Back at Luisa’s apartment, Rose had taken the lead. She guided Luisa through her own apartment and into the bedroom. She stopped when they were both in front of the full-body mirror Luisa had in her bedroom. Rose religiously started undressing Luisa, her sweatshirt and bra falling on the floor and revealing the brunette’s soft, tan skin. Rose brought her hands to caress the tan skin, Luisa watching Rose’s hands through the mirror.

Rose turned the woman around to crash their lips together.

She carefully lowered Luisa on the bed, never taking her lips off the brunette’s. She only broke from the kiss to take Luisa’s pants off, her damp undies following. Rose grinned at Luisa before lowering her mouth on the woman’s neck leaving a trail of kisses down to her chest.

In the meantime, her fingertips stroked Luisa’s sides, momentarily bringing them up to her stomach to wake a series of goosebumps on their crossing.

Luisa’s breath was too caught up in her throat to whisper to the woman to go further down on her body. She still couldn’t believe the raven-haired goddess’ body was on hers. She shivered at every touch of Rose’s fingers on her core, writhed as the older woman grazed her teeth over one of her breasts.

And, then, miraculously, Luisa found her voice. ‘Rose,’ was all she moaned. The voice came with all the desperation Luisa had bottled and Rose raised her head from Luisa’s cleavage. Rose’s lust-filled eyes were met with Luisa’s incredulously dilated.

Rose parted Luisa’s legs and moved herself further down her body. She ran her hands across the young woman’s legs as she lowered her head on Luisa’s center. She brought her tongue to part Luisa’s lips and dove right in.

She explored Luisa’s sex, the young woman shuddering from pleasure. All she could do was lock the sheet inside her fists and tug every now and then when Rose hit the right spots. She threw her head back, diving into the soft pillows.

Rose brought her hands on Luisa’s hipbones and tried pulling her impossibly closer, her mouth momentarily becoming too hungry. Luisa’s gasps and moans had now increased in frequency and intensity, and Rose felt Luisa’s nerves around her tongue tense up and knew Luisa was very close to climaxing.

She now employed one of her hands on her clit, carefully teasing the sensitive nerve. Luisa moaned once before breathing the blue-eyed woman’s name like a prayer.

Rose extracted her tongue moments later, sensing that Luisa’s orgasm was about to consume her alive.

Luisa’s climax felt like a sort of being reborn; every inch of her body paralyzed from pleasure, only to come back feeling more refreshed than ever.

She loomed over her as Luisa slowly became more and more aware of her surroundings, her mind having previously gone blank.

Rose very much took pleasure in watching Luisa orgasm. She tucked away a couple strands of brown hair that had stuck on the brunette’s face due to sweat. ‘ _My angel,_ ’ she breathed against Luisa’s lips, ‘ _flung out of space._ ’

Luisa opened her heavy lids and tugged Rose closer to steal a kiss from her. ‘That was,’ she sluggishly shook her head from right to left, ‘divine.’ A smile, almost too big for the small woman, appeared on her face. She took a moment to catch her breath, her pants now subsiding, before she placed her hand on the back of Rose’s head to bring her down for another heated kiss.

 

Luisa woke up a few hours later, all curled up in Rose’s arms, whose face was in Luisa’s hair. She was still waking up while Rose was kissing her forehead.

‘Hey,’ Luisa said as she repositioned herself to be face to face with Rose.

‘Hey,’ Rose echoed with a grin.

‘Sleep well?’ asked Luisa as she stretched.

‘Best sleep I’ve had in a while,’ the raven-haired woman replied, not taking her eyes off Luisa. After finishing her stretching routine, Luisa returned into Rose’s arms.

‘Could stay like that for quite a long time,’ she admitted when she had finally found the right position, earning a kiss from Rose who was grinning hard. She felt like they were covered by a blanket of felicity.

Rose’s phone started buzzing and for a moment she pondered whether she should leave it go to voicemail before she was brought back to reality. It was Sunday evening; she was supposed to pick Maggie up from her father’s and, god, Luisa and her skills were so excellent a distraction.

‘Fuck,’ Rose said as her eyes went wide. She got up very fast, Luisa left perplexed on the bed.

‘What’s wrong?’ Luisa asked as she watched Rose get dressed.

‘It’s Sunday. I should’ve picked up Maggie hours ago,’ she explained very fast as she finished putting her clothes on. ‘Jeremiah, yes, I’m on my way. What do you mean “she’s sick”? I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.’

‘Maggie’s sick?’ Luisa asked as she put on her own clothes.

‘That’s what Jeremiah said,’ Rose answered, clearly anxious.

‘Mind if I come with?’ Luisa asked Rose who was checking if she’d gotten all her stuff.

‘Please do.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i suppose you weren't expecting it to escalate that quickly, were you


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey there, yeah i don't know either where this is going,  
> contains m part

‘Where have you been, Rose?’ Jeremiah barked at her the minute she exited the elevator.

‘I was working on a case, Jeremiah, some of us have to work hard to keep up our status,’ Rose snapped back. She closed her eyes. ‘I’m sorry I snapped, I lost track of time is all,’ she went on when she realized she had just snapped at him for no apparent reason. ‘How’s Maggie?’ she said as she walked toward her bedroom.

‘Mostly fine, but she says she doesn’t feel good,’ he replied, placing his hand on his waist and standing by the door.

‘Baby, mommy’s here. How you’re feeling?’

‘Stomach hurts, mommy,’ she said as Rose came close to feel her forehead to see if she had fever. Luckily, she didn’t.

‘Wanna go home? Luisa’s waiting downstairs,’ Rose asked her daughter quietly enough that Jeremiah would not hear her.

‘Yes. But, mom, I feel very tired.’

‘Wait here, I’ll fetch your stuff, then I’m carrying you,’ Rose said wiggling her eyebrows playfully in an attempt to make her daughter laugh. And she did manage to do it.

‘What the heck are you wearing?’ Jeremiah asked her, confused, when she went back to the living room to get Maggie’s school bag. She hadn’t realized she had put back on Luisa’s hoodie. She was not used to wearing this type of outfit anywhere outside the house; even when going to the gym, her appearance had to comply with some standards.

‘I told you I was caught up with a case. Anyway, our daughter is sick and you care about my outfit?’ Rose said clearly annoyed. ‘Get used to it, I’ll be wearing it more often,’ she said quietly as she finished gathering the little girl’s stuff.

She put the bag on her back and went to get Maggie in her arms, who curled up against her shoulder. ‘Goodnight, Jeremiah,’ she said, not sparing another stare on him.

‘Night, Rose. Call me if anything happens,’ he managed to say before the women got into the lift.

Luisa was waiting for them outside the car, her back against the driver’s seat door.

‘Everything okay?’ she asked anxiously. ‘Get in, I’m driving,’ she continued when Rose affirmed her that everything was fine.

‘Stomachache.’

Back at Rose’s, Rose gave Maggie a hot bath as Luisa prepared some chicken soup. When the young woman was finished, she went upstairs to help Rose blow-dry the girl’s hair and put on some warm clothes.

Maggie told them she was feeling much better already, but her mother insisted that she doesn’t go to school tomorrow and get a well and nice rest. Maggie couldn’t help but follow her mother’s instructions.

‘What are you doing?’ Luisa asked as she descended the stairs to find Rose standing in the middle of the living room.

‘I’m calling Jean to cancel my appointments for tomorrow. I’m staying home with Maggie,’ Rose replied while typing a number on her phone.

‘No, you’re not. I am staying with Maggie,’ Luisa affirmed her.

‘You don’t have to— Jean, cancel all my appointments for tomorrow.’

Luisa came close enough to Rose. ‘No, Jean don’t cancel anything,’ Luisa shouted in Rose’s phone. She then brought her eyes up to face Rose. ‘I know you have a tight schedule; if you cancel, everything gets drawn back. I only have, like, two classes tomorrow morning. I can cancel.’

‘Okay,’ Rose said, not replying to Jean who was still on the phone but lowering it and dropping it to the couch. ‘Thank you,’ Rose replied with a smile. ‘What would I do without you?’ She said as she put her arms around Luisa’s neck, bringing her closer.

‘You would probably cancel your appointments,’ Luisa laughed while blushing.

‘No, I’m serious,’ laughed Rose who could not resist the other woman’s jokes.

‘Now come to bed, you should get some rest,’ the younger woman invited her by leading the way.

 

Luisa woke up in the middle of the night. She felt for the woman beside her but she could not find anyone sleeping next to her. For a moment, she considered that all this had been a long, long dream. Maybe she was home sleeping and she just had the craziest dream sequence.

Then, she considered turning on the lamp on the nightstand; she could recognize Rose’s bedroom. The minimalistic furniture in black and white with only a few blooms of roses around the room. Yeah, she was definitely there. But where was Rose? She got up as quietly as possible and headed for Maggie’s room.

Rose was there sitting beside Maggie who was sleeping.

‘Everything okay? Luisa asked concerned.

‘Yeah, just came to check her,’ Rose said quietly, getting up. ‘No fever.’

‘Thank god. She’ll be fine tomorrow, trust me.’

‘Thanks, doc,’ Rose laughed as quietly as she could and Luisa joined in. ‘You would make a very sexy doctor,’ Rose admitted as they got out of the room.

* * *

‘So?’ Jean said as he closed the door behind him. Rose was too busy reading the new files in her hands she didn’t stop to think what he meant.

‘So, what?’ Rose asked confused.

‘Last night when you called…?’ Jean asked suggestively.

‘Oh…’ Rose said recalling the phone incident. ‘Maggie’s sick. Luisa’s taking care of her,’ she said with a smile, her eyes jumping back to the documents in her hands. Jean shook his head lightly in comprehension.

She threw the papers on the desk before a huge smile appeared on her face. ‘Luisa and I—we—had sex yesterday,’ Rose said as quietly as she could, but her excitement was barely contained.

Jean almost screeched. ‘Was about time.’ He lightly patted her on the arm in a congratulatory move. Rose chuckled. ‘So, how was it?’ he asked impatiently.

‘Spectacular,’ Rose admitted, smiling. ‘I even got late to Jeremiah’s.’

‘It was _that_ good,’ Jean shook his head again in the same manner he had moments earlier.

* * *

Rose smiled to herself as she was on her way to Luisa’s work. She had by then spent some time just hanging around the dance school, watching the woman deliver classes. She remembered how she had once told the brunette she loved how passionate she got when she worked. Luisa replied that there were times when she even forgot to eat, just because she was too caught up with work.

Rose’s smiled turned into a grin; could this woman get any cuter, she wondered. She opened the waiting room’s door.

‘Hey,’ Luisa said from behind the desk, writing something, but soon stuffed it into a drawer.

‘Darling, how’re you?’ Rose asked, putting a bag on the table and coming to kiss the woman.

‘How could I not be great when you visit me at work?’ she lovingly replied. ‘What’s in the bag?’

‘Just brought you something to eat.’

‘What?!’

‘You once told me you get so caught up with work you forget to eat. I wanted to make it personally sure you didn’t.’

‘Thanks. I appreciate it.’

After that day, Rose’s visits bearing homemade lunch became more frequent, the two spending time together, eating, kissing.

* * *

Rose was splashing some cold water on her face when she saw it in the mirror above the sink; a hickey. She got down the stairs infuriated.

‘Babe,’ Luisa said excitedly when she saw her.

‘What is this?’ she asked harshly, pointing to the hickey on her neck’s right side.

She noticed Luisa’s eyes go wide, but a smile was fixed on her face, as if the woman was proud of her work.

‘Rose, I—I’m so sorry, I had no idea.’ She brought her fingers to trace the bruised spot, but Rose didn’t let her. ‘Let me see,’ she pleaded.

Rose closed her eyes, and nodded at Luisa. She wanted to relish Luisa’s delicate touch on her neck, but her pride was too hurt to do so. ‘Enough touching for today. I’ve got much work to do,’ she said before picking up her handbag and leaving.

 

Luisa checked her phone. Still no reply from Rose; she had sent her some selfies accompanied by some ‘I’m sorry’ captions. She was torn; on one hand, she really wanted to laugh at how the woman had reacted this morning; on the other, she was feeling down due to the lack of communication from Rose’s side.

Rose had only texted back to let her know she was okay and that she was still pissed; no texts telling her she was thinking of her, or that she couldn’t wait to see her after work.

Rose herself felt like she was overdoing it, holding grudge to the young woman was too much for her. She wanted to text back the woman, her selfies were too cute not to comment on them, but she was also too proud to do it.

_‘What’s wrong? You seem very tense,’ Jean had remarked when he saw her that morning in the hallway._

_Rose had dragged him to her office and showed him the hickey, her face very angry._

_‘O-kay, yeah. That’s bad.’_

‘Please, don’t tell me you’re still playing hard to forgive with Luisa,’ Jean asked after closing the door behind him.

‘Don’t bother telling me I should stop. I know I should.’

‘I’m sure Luisa didn’t mean to do it—’ he started, but was cut by Rose.

‘I’m not mad at Luisa,’ she whispered. ‘I’m mad at me. I was too, how to say this, receiving?! I let myself become very vulnerable.’

‘Babe. You can’t set limitations to how much others love you. Especially with Luisa. The woman loves you, you can’t just prohibit her to do so.’

‘How will I show up at court Wednesday?’ she asked, the last drop of anger flying away.

‘Girl, duh. I got your back,’ Jean chuckled and so did she. ‘Now, go find her and make up.’

 

Luisa was finishing gathering her stuff, when Rose stormed into the waiting room.

‘Rose, babe,’ she said softly, but kept a distance between them. She lifted her hands, but she didn’t come any closer.

‘Are you alone?’ she asked, and when Luisa said yes, she locked the door behind her.

She almost run to Luisa, and started kissing her on the neck.

Luisa drowned in pleasure as Rose nibbled on her neck, lowering her mouth on her collarbone, sucking there.

‘Rose, what—are you—doing?’ she managed to ask.

‘I’m trying to make things even,’ she husked and went back to working on creating an equally bruised spot on Luisa’s neckline.

‘For what it’s worth, I never would’ve done it purposefully,’ Luisa panted.

Rose lifted her head. ‘I know. I’m sorry, I—lost it.’ She covered her face with her hand.

‘I should’ve been more careful, I know. It’s just, I lose control when you’re around.’

Rose put her finger on the freshly-red spot on the brunette's neck.

‘You know,’ Rose started saying in a husky voice, ‘I would be lying if I didn’t say it didn’t turn me on insanely much.’ She tugged on Luisa’s leather jacket, and when Luisa’s confused expression turned into a smirk, she proceeded to take it off her.

* * *

Wednesday, what an uneventful day, Rose thought walking along the hallway.

She came back to her office to find Luisa there. She was pacing up and down in the room and hadn’t realized the raven-haired had entered. When she saw her, a shy smile appeared on her face.

Rose could sense Luisa was nervous. She could also feel it in their kiss.

‘What is it, darling?’ she asked, one of her hands tenderly hugging Luisa’s cheek.

The brunette didn’t respond immediately. She took a deep breath and then spoke.

‘I brought you something,’ Luisa said, hesitantly getting something out of her pocket. The older woman patiently waited for her to reveal what it was. ‘I made you a mixtape.’ She brought it forth and gave it to her. Rose took it from her hand.

‘You did? That is wonderful,’ she said giddily. ‘Thank you, darling.’ She leaned in to peck Luisa on the lips, the young woman happily accepting her thank-you gift.

‘Let me know when you’ve listened to it.’

‘God, this is the cutest thing,’ Rose said as she opened the lid to read the track list.

Luisa put her hand on hers and stopped her from doing it. ‘Don’t—do this here,’ she said, her cheeks almost red. Rose smirked and put it in her purse.

 

_Come over_ , Rose had texted her. Luisa put on whatever was on her bedroom’s floor and hopped on her motorcycle.

She came to find the door to Rose’s house mildly open and was filled with suspicion. She entered with caution, but the sight she walked into was breathtaking.

Rose was there waiting for her in a semi-lit living room, in a fitted black dress, her mixtape playing loud.

Luisa softly kicked the door closed behind her, never taking her eyes off the raven-haired goddess.

Rose opened her arms invitingly. Luisa came to her almost as if a spell was cast on her.

She rested her head on Rose’s shoulder, her mouth brushing against the woman’s neck. They slowly moved their bodies in unison to the slow-paced song.

‘Thank you,’ Rose said, kissing Luisa on the head.

Luisa placed open-mouthed kisses on Rose’s neck, and Rose’s eyes fell closed to savor the feeling.

She felt the need to have these lips on hers; she placed one firm hand on the back of Luisa’s head. The brunette lifted her head to meet Rose’s lips in a fierce kiss.

They stayed like this, moving their bodies around, kissing, for hours, ‘til a kiss turned quite heated.

Luisa hands came to cup Rose’s ass, as her tongue was in Rose’s mouth.

Luisa unzipped Rose’s couture dress in an agonizingly slow pace, placing wet kisses to every inch of skin she revealed. Soon, the expensive dress fell on the floor, and Luisa bit her bottom lip when she saw that Rose was wearing no underwear.

‘Wishful thinking,’ the raven-haired said, and Luisa, clearly turned on, took off her own shirt. The thought that the woman had been anticipating this made her feel like the temperature in the room equated that of the Sun.

She lifted Rose in her arms and seated her on a drawer in the living room. Her soft, expert hands landed on freckled skin. They stroked each inch of Rose’s body as she had joined their lips once again.

One of her hands reached for Rose’s thigh and when it came very close to her center, Rose shuddered. Luisa broke the kiss and stared into her eyes. She could read the lust she felt.

Luisa dropped to her knees, her hands caressing her long legs. In a split of a second, she was burrowing her mouth on Rose’s sex, licking her slit, the woman instinctively wrapped her legs around Luisa’s torso, pulling her closer.

Luisa’s expert tongue had the raven-haired woman’s head hit the wall behind her, her eyes falling closed, only to be opened moments later to look at her lover between her legs. Rose felt like the luckiest woman on earth.

Luisa’s tongue had elicited a large number of moans and cursing on its way to her clit. She added two long fingers, after stroking her entrance for a short second.

Rose felt her orgasm fast approaching as Luisa’s fingers pumped in and out of her in a sloppy manner, her mouth on her clit. Her moans were now replaced by some ‘fuck, Luisa’ whispers.

Rose’s eyes fell closed as a wave of pleasure overtook her. Her whole body shivered and Rose was sent to an outlandish paradise.

Luisa slowed down her movements until she stood up to kiss Rose’s face. There was something special about post-orgasm Rose that stirred otherworldly emotions. She could be doing this all day, down on her knees, pleasing the woman, as if worshipping an out-of-this-world goddess.

Rose smiled. Was that what bliss felt like?

Her legs swung around Luisa’s waist, bringing her impossibly closer. ‘God,’ Rose breathed, her lips millimeters away from Luisa’s. ‘You truly are one in a million.’

Upon hearing that, a smug grin appeared on Luisa’s face. She wiped her fingers on her pants before taking Rose’s face in her hands. She kissed her tenderly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, i've been debating with myself as to what song (remember there was a mixtape playing in the background?) they made love to. For some reason, i feel like my best choice would be Lust for Life by Lana Del Rey. I haven't come to a decision yet, though. Any suggestions?


End file.
